We Are Thieves: Betrayal
by GeorgeAndEckels
Summary: The sequel to the second generation story We Are Thieves: James Bishop and his crew have pulled some of the most dangerous heists in the world, but nothing could have prepared them for the challenge they now face when they are forced to betray their own in order to save themselves and the ones they love. Lots of betrayal, much romance, many excitements. Read :)
1. A Complicated Life

**Guess who's finally back? Okay I'll do my spiel later, for now read and enjoy :)**

The quite halls of the ivy-draped Abercorn Academy for Young Woman awoke from their slumber as the bell rang out, announcing the end of the school day. The corridors were swarmed by London's wealthiest young ladies, all eager to get out of the school as fast as possible and start their weekend engagements.

"Natalie!" Susan Calting called as she weaved her way through the crowd towards Natalie. Katherine Haggle and Jenny Mink followed in her wake. Natalie had known the girls since her childhood years, as she did most of the girls at Abercorn. Susan and her friends were the daughters of diplomats and oil-tycoons. And they acted like it.

It was more social requirement than actual friendship that made Natalie halt her progress through the halls to talk to Susan. Susan and her followers were really quite kind, in a proper sort of way, but Natalie had other things on her mind that afternoon and a streak of annoyance passed through her as Susan kissed both of her cheeks with false enthusiasm.

"Hello, Susan. Hey, girls," Natalie nodded towards Jenny and Katherine in greeting.

"Where have you been? I've barely seen you in history class as of late." Susan smiled mischievously when she referred to Natalie's frequent absences from school. "Playing hooky are we?"

"I've been busy lately." Natalie answered. It was true she had been very busy. In the last month alone the crew had pulled four heists.

"Busy with what?" Susan arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

_Oh, the usual,_ Natalie thought to herself, _stealing priceless works of art, conning millionaires and running from guard dogs._ She wondered how Dmitri's bite was healing. "Traveling." Natalie gave an innocent smile.

Jenny bubbled into her conversation. "So, what are you doing this weekend Natalie? Are you coming to the coast with the rest of us?"

"Oh yes, you should come." Katherine chirped. "We're all going to Riley May's house in Denver. It'll be a great time. You should come."

"I've got quite a bit of work to do this weekend." It wasn't necessarily a lie. Natalie did have lots of work to do; she would be stealing a Duccio over the weekend and no one can deny that takes quite a bit of work. "But you'll have to tell me all about it when you get back. I've got to head out now." Natalie edged away from the girls. "I'll see you all Monday," she promised as she turned to go.

"Have a good weekend." The three girls watched her hurry down the front steps onto the sidewalk.

As she descended Abercorn iconic stone steps to the street a group of boys from Northgate Institute passed by. She was acquainted with most of their families so she nodded at them as they passed.

"Natalie!" Someone called from behind. This time it was not Susan or her followers.

Nat turned around to face Eric Holden, of the Holden Oil Tycoons. He broke from his group, striding towards her with one of those self-conscious yet charming half smiles on his lips.

"Hi, Eric." Natalie said, catching her breath a little.

Eric was a Holden, which meant not only was he extremely wealthy, but also, well, extremely hot. His auburn hair was touched with gold and tousled like something out of a Calvin Klein ad. He stood causally with his hands in the pockets of his uniform. Eric's light hazel eyes had a nasty habit of catching the light and knocking every girl within ten yards off her feet.

"I haven't seen you around much lately. How have you been?" He tilted his head a little, like an adorable puppy.

"I've been busy traveling." Also technically not a lie. "You must be busy yourself, with football season on its way."

It wasn't enough that Eric had to be wealthy, good looking, and have an slick American accent, oh no, he also was a star athlete. There was no denying it. Eric Holden was walking, talking girl-nip.

"Yeah, its hectic alright. And soon they'll be handing out the final projects." The two groaned in unison. As if Natalie needed to be reminded of all the schoolwork there was to catch up on.

"But I guess everyone is heading to the coast this weekend. I'm staying at Mark Sharky's place. It's just down the way from Susan's. She's a good friend of yours right? Will I see you there?" He inquired.

Natalie had become aware that Eric's friends had stopped and were now watching their conversation.

"No, I can't make it unfortunately." She shrugged. "Too much school work."

"Shame." His hazel eyes passed over Natalie's face, lingering on her lips. "I was hoping we could catch up."

"Another time, I guess." Natalie was aware she had places to be but she really didn't want to stop starring at Eric's dimples.

His friends called to him but he never so much as glanced away from Natalie. "How about next Friday?"

"Huh?" She asked. Natalie had been a little too focused on Eric's perfection.

"We have lunch hour at the same time, right? We could go to that Café down the street." Eric's smile took on a nervous air to it as he watched for her reaction.

Natalie looked down the street to the charming little café Abercorn girls frequented. It was the same café where she sat across from James on that rainy morning almost a year earlier. She smiled at the memory of his soaked hair dripping onto the table.

Natalie refocused on Eric.

"Sure." She smiled back, resisting the urge to bit her lip.

"Great!" He said just a little too loudly. "It's a date."

On the street behind her a sleek black Ferrari pulled quickly up to the curve, startling the chattering girls on the sidewalk. "That's my ride." Natalie said.

Eric's face fell a little as the window rolled down. "Your boyfriend?"

Natalie tried to suppress a laugh. "Definitely not."

Eric's smile returned. "Great, I mean, I'll see you next Monday. Here, allow me." He pulled the passenger door open for her.

"Thanks. Bye." She gave a small wave as she climbed in the passenger seat. All the girls in the school watched with curiosity as their friend got into a mysterious car.

A red head teenage boy sat casually in the drivers seat.

"Nice ride." Natalie commented. "Where'd you get it?"

"Italian Embassy."

"Say what you will about the Italians politicians, but they've got nice cars. How fast can it go?" She asked whilst securing her seatbelt.

Mac's usual subdued mask of indifference cracked into a child like grin. "Let's find out." Mac punched the gas pedal and they shot down the street, leaving the startled girls of Abercorn Academy behind them.

The Ferrari zipped through London streets, passing cars with ease. Natalie might have been worried about being stopped by the police, but to do that they would have had to catch Mac first. That wasn't likely. Despite the high velocity, the car ride was smooth, almost soothing, as Mac gently guided the wheel.

"Did you finish up in Peru?" Natalie asked. The crew had pulled a heist in Peru not six days earlier and Mac had stayed behind to tie up loose ends while Nat headed back to the real world and the rest of the crew went ahead to scout out their next target.

Ever a man of few words, Mac simply nodded in response to her question.

He handed Natalie a stack of papers from the glove compartment. "Jay says to look over these."

She scanned the pages. They contained blue prints and copies of official looking documents with the name Fox Inc. in the corner. "Is everyone back at the brownstone yet?"

"The crew should have arrived this morning," Mac confirmed. "Siena told me to give you a heads up that it will be a packed house. Aunt Kat's called in the family for her next heist."

"Oh, good. I haven't seen Rose in ages. What are the dates for the next job?"

"James says we'll pick you up on Thursday night and pull the job on Friday."

"Thursday morning? I thought you were picking my up Friday night."

Mac looked at her, his mask portrayed a slight confusion. "Change of plans. Problem?"

It wasn't the fact that she would miss more school that irritated Natalie. "No. It's just- I had plans." She sighed and watched the London streets zip by at an alarming rate.

Natalie hated the idea of not being a thief, and returning to her normal ways but the heists were starting to get in the way of life, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

It had been almost a full year since the crew had stolen the statue of Hermes. Natalie couldn't keep track of how many jobs they had pulled since then. She was now undoubtedly part of the crew. With each passing heist, Natalie felt herself improving. She became bolder. Her hands didn't shake quite so much and she could navigate a laser alarm field as well as any of the others.

She was a thief. And as any thief knows, there is no walking away from this complicated life once you're hooked.

**Damn, its good to be back. Okay lets get down to it - I won't give you an excuse for my long absence and unfulfilled promises (Side note: Did you know that Uni is a lot of work? Who knew, right?) but I intend to make it up to you. I'll be upfront about this. I have the first few chapters written (six to be exact) but there may be a delay after that. To give myself more time I will only be posting a new chapter once per week (assuming I have enough self control to stop myself from posting them all at once). Let me tell you, I thought the first one was emotionally intense while writing it but its got nothing on this one. Thats all for now so I'll just say it's been far too long and I can't wait to hear from you in the reviews. **

-George &amp; Eckles (Previously NiephoraWritings)

_**Note: The Heist Society belongs to Ally Carter. 'We Are Thieves' is a second generation fan fiction based on the world Ally Carter created in her series. George&amp;Eckles does not own any of Ms. Carter's original characters or content. Simply a fan. **_

_**Second Note: No idea what's going on? Wondering who the heck Natalie and James are? My friend you have stumbled upon the sequel to We Are Thieves. If you want to catch up just look for the first story on my author's page. (Trust me its worth suffering through the first story to understand the second.) **_


	2. Homebase

The red door to the Brooklyn brownstone swung open before Natalie even touched the doorknob.

"Hey! You're here early," Siena smiled at the sight of Natalie and Mac on the doorstep, "Here give me that," she took the duffle bag from Natalie and held the door open for them to step in from the cold.

"Mac picked me up on his way back from Peru so I could catch an earlier flight," Natalie kissed Siena's cheeks. "Is everyone here?"

"Dmitri's on the couch and you just missed James. He's making a run to the store. The Bagshaws got here yesterday. I think most people are in the kitchen at the moment. I was just going to head out for a run, but I can wait a few minutes if you want to come."

"No, you go ahead," Natalie took the bag back from her, "I've got to review the blueprints before anything else."

"Alright, see you later," Siena nodded towards Mac, putting in her headphones as she passed him by, clearly not inviting a conversation.

The red haired boy watched her jog down the street in silence.  
"You could go with her," Natalie suggested.

Waking from his trance, he shook his head, "No, I wouldn't be able to keep up with her."

"You could try."

"I wouldn't want to slow her down."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "You two are ridiculous you know that?"

Mac blinked at her, forming his stone features into a false expression of confusion.

"Don't pull that face with me, Bagshaw. I see right through that crap. Sooner or later one of you has to say something, do something. Anything! Preferably before the tension suffocates me."

Mac hid something that might have been a smirk and pushed past her into the house.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark house, Natalie breathed in the familiar scent of stew on the stove. Dmitri was sprawled across the couch, fiddling with something that looked suspiciously like C4.

"Hey." Natalie called.

"Miss me?" Dmitri sent one of his signature smirks her way. One part charming, two parts dangerous, and three parts thief, Dmitri's smile was impossible to imitate.

"Not even slightly." Mac tossed his duffle bag on top of Dmitri.

Dmitri caught the bag at the last moment and threw it back. "I wasn't asking you, Bagshaw."

While the boys began whipping pillows at one another, Natalie made her way to the kitchen but was ambushed. All she saw was a flash of red hair darting down the stair towards her before it knocked her side ways with a hug.

"It is you! Jay said you would be hours yet but then I heard the door open and I knew it was you!" Rose Bagshaw chattered excitedly at Natalie as she hung from her shoulders. Looking down at Ro's speckled nose and wide smile it was easy for Natalie to see her as a healthy, vibrant little girl. But as she detached herself from Nat and pulled her toward the kitchen the distinctive limp in her stride was impossible to ignore.

Ro's knee would never heal, and it would forever be a reminder to the crew of what, and who, they risked each time they took on a new heist. Natalie was constantly reassuring James of what everyone else could see so clearly every time Ro smiled, there was nothing broken about this little girl.

Despite her physical disadvantage, Ro was strong. She pulled Natalie towards the kitchen and out of range of the pillow war being waged in the living room. "Come on. Mom, Dad, and Aunt Kat are in the kitchen."

Catherine Bagshaw balanced her son Charlie on her hip as she stood talking to the small woman in front of the stove. At five foot two Katarina Bishop was still one of the most intimidating people Natalie had ever met. Even as she turned to smile at the girls when they entered and instructed them to sit down so she could serve the soup, Kat couldn't be mistaken for a simple housewife. Housewives didn't have that fierce look in their eyes.

A pillow hit the china cabinet beside the fireplace and Kat's voice echoed through the house, "Boys, if you break those, you will be stealing an entirely new set. And the King of Spain didn't take kindly to losing the first set," she warned.

"Sorry, Aunt Kat!" Dmitri called back.

The clack of her heels down the hall was audible before Aunt Gabrielle entered the kitchen. "Never mind them, Kat. We could use new chinaware anyways. Well, if it isn't the heiress herself." Gabrielle the new comer two exaggerated kisses on the cheek.

"Tell us, Natalie. Have the boys been behaving themselves?" Catherine ladled baby food into her son's mouth. She didn't seem to notice that Charlie just spit it on the floor when his mother's attention was elsewhere.

"Siena, says she's just as reckless as they are." Kat raised a brow and Natalie felt like sinking in her chair.

"How is it that my daughter talks more to you then she does to me?" Gabrielle asked, exasperated.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that just yesterday you suggested she sign up for online dating," Hamish replied.

"It's was only a suggestion!" Gabs protested, "And you know how hard it is for girls like Siena to find decent men when the only ones they come into contact with are thieves. Excuse me for worrying about my daughter's future happiness."

"She's eighteen," Catherine countered, "Siena has plenty of time to worry about that sort of thing later. Besides, I don't think anyone but a thief could handle dating Siena."

"What about Dmitri?" Kat inquired. "I didn't hear you talk to him about dating."

Gabriella brushed her off, "He's still young. Dmitri has time."

"They're twins, Gabs. They're the same age," Angus tried to reason with Gabrielle when he walked through the door. Clearly this was a conversation the adults had had before.

"I'm just worried about her. Siena doesn't meet many people. And there comes a time when a thief grows old and the heists slow down. I'd hate to see her end up alone."

"Oh, I don't think there's any worry of that," Natalie laughed.

"What was that, Natalie?" But Kat's smirk said she already had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"Natalie was just asking if I wanted to join their next heist," Ro, who had been patiently listening to the conversation, swooped in to help Nat and simultaneously advance her own agenda.

"No she didn't, but nice try," Kat kissed Ro on the head as she leaned over to place the bowls in front of the two girls.

"How is the heist going, Natalie?" Hamish asked.

It was always nerve racking to talk about the crew's heists in front of the head of the family. Only Kat's smile could put someone at ease while also terrifying them.

"Not sure exactly. Dmitri wouldn't let me help out with the ID badges so I have no idea how far we have left to go."

"What have I done now?" Dmitri strode into the room and took his place at the table.

"Natalie says you've cut her out of the heist," Gabrielle frowned.

"Oh I see how it is, West. I tell you to live your life and you ruin mine by getting my mother involved." Dmitri picked a stray feather from his hair, evidence of the battle in the living room, and flicked it at Natalie.

"The idiot's got a point, Nat," Mac said from his position in the doorway, "You shouldn't give up everything for the crew."

"Listen to the wise old ginger, Natalie. He knows best." Dmitri mocked, before ducking Mac's next pillow strike.

"No, pillows in the kitchen!" Catherine shrilled.

"Yeah, honestly, Mac!" Dmitri whipped the pillow back at him and a trail of feathers.

Mac ducked and James caught the pillow-missile before it could hit the china cabinet.

"Nice catch," Natalie said.

"I've had seventeen years of practice," James shrugged, "When did you arrive?" His cheeks were flushed from the cold.

"Just now. Mac picked me up on his way back," Natalie answered.

"Alright, boys sit down before the soup goes cold," Kat commanded "Siena's gone out for a run, Jay."

He nodded, "I passed her on my way here. What about Dad?"

"Here," Nick strode into the room and clapped his son on the back. "Nice work in Peru. Dmitri's been telling me all about it."

James winced at the compliment, not sure whether it was sarcastic or not, "Did he tell you the part where he nearly had his leg chewed off?"

"Funny, he didn't," Nick raised a brow. Natalie took note, so that was where James got his signature brow raise from.

Simon trailed in behind Nick and made his way through the already crowded kitchen to his seat which had been reserved for him by the piles of electronic equipment no one but Simon dare touch.

"How _is_ your leg healing, Dmitri?" Natalie asked.

"Great! Aunt Cath gave me a cream that will help the torn bits heal and she says I can get the stitches out in a few days. The puss is gone too. Want to see?" Dmitri offered, propping his leg but on the table.

"No feet on the table," Gabrielle snapped. "And don't play with those bandages. Your Aunt just fixed them for you."

"Its no problem, Gabs." Catherine said, "And he is healing surprisingly fast."

"Must be my superhuman healing abilities," Dmitri wiggled his brows at Nat. "That's not the only thing about me that's super human."

"Super might be a stretch, but you're certainly not normal," James jest as he slid a wandering bolt back to Simon.

"Honestly, these children are going to be the death of me! One of them comes back casually bleeding to death and the other refuses to even consider dating. I'll lose my nerves, I swear I will," Gabrielle turned to Kat in exasperation.

"I wasn't bleeding to death, Mom, and practically everyone here has been bitten on the job-" Dmitri was cut off by his mother. She had started off on the subject of Siena's love life and was not about to let it go.

"I really don't understand why she gets so offended when I ask her about it. Everyone does online dating these days. That's how I get in contact with half of my targets."

"Ah, the benefits of the technological age for a con artist," Nick joked. "It almost makes up for all that facial recognition software the government has now."

Nick's attempt to change the topic of conversation failed.

"If she's so resistant to the idea why don't you get Simon to set up an account for her, that way she doesn't have to do any of the work herself and she can see how easy it will be for her to meet people," Catherine suggested.

"No way!" Simon protested. "I won't have any part in this. It would go against my role as the cool uncle."

"Cool Uncle? Simon, mate, I think we all know who the 'cool uncle' is here." Hamish motioned to himself.

"Yeah, its Uncle Hale," Mac rarely

"Did you hear that, Kat? This ones got no respect for his old man." Hamish said as he reached over poke Mac in the ribs.

Kat rolled her eyes, "Gabs, why don't you just let Siena meet someone the traditional way?"

"Kitty Kat, you're idea of 'traditional' is playing a game of cat and mouse with the enemy, then corrupting, getting arrested by and marrying said enemy."

"Yes, but I was worth it." Nick leaned down to kiss his wife's cheek.

"You have your moments," Kat admitted.

Gabrielle turned her focus on the younger crew. "You all spend more time with her then I do, does she really show no interest in _anyone_?"

James and Dmitri both agreed they had never noticed Siena bat her lashes at anyone when it wasn't necessary for the success of the heist.

Natalie glanced at Mac for a moment and she thought he looked nervous. Nat bit back a smile and said, "No not at all."

"I just don't want her to end up alone," Gabs sighed.

"You mean like you did?" Simon asked.

Gabrielle swatted the back of his head, "And whose fault was that?"

"Hold on, you're blaming me because you never settled down? How is that my fault?"

"Maybe if you had gotten a clue twenty years ago things would be different," Gabrielle huffed before stalking from the room. No one said anything as they listened to Gabs' heels echo down the hall.

Simon's cheeks flushed but he refused to look at anyone. He become intent on his task of screwing electrical components together with more force then was strictly necessary. "Not a single word," he warned the others.

The awkward silence continued. Charlie gurgled happily.

It was finally broken when the front door flung open and Siena called out as she jogged up the stairs, "I'm back, just let me get changed and we can get planning."

"Saved by the bell," Dmitri muttered.

"Okay, you kids get the kitchen, grown-ups to the living room. We've all got work to do, " Kat announced.

"So I stay in the kitchen?" Ro asked hopefully.

"Even better, you get to plan with the adults." Catherine brushed the girl's messy hair with her fingers.

"When do I get to go on my own heists with James' crew?" Rose grumbled.

"How about when James thinks you're ready?" Kat offered.

Aunt Catherine seemed hesitant but agreed with Kat's suggestion. Rose turned towards James and stood perfectly straight, waiting for orders.

He sighed, "Not this time, Ro. Sorry."

The young girl's eyes watered and she limped out of the room, followed by her Aunts and Uncles.

"How long do you think it will take her to forgive me?" James asked.

"About as long as it takes for you to forgive yourself and let her join," Natalie answered. Several years earlier, James and the crew had taken Rose on one of their heists as a distraction. The result was a broken kneecap and Ro's permanent limp.

Dmitri cut the tension by laying the blue prints out in front of them. They were soon joined by Siena, whose hair was still dripping from her shower.

Natalie place her phone on speaker and punched in the number, "You ready, Cake?"

"I'm always ready for you, my darlings." Cake was still serving her house arrest sentence in Germany after puncturing some massive holes in the German government's cyber defense systems. Cake claimed she had simply been trying to help by demonstrating the system's flaws, however the Germans were not impressed. Hence, Cake was unable to physically join the crew in Brooklyn, but that in no way impeded her ability to hack traffic cameras.

It took the crew two hours and several cups of coffee to review the details of their next job. The only thing left to do now was to wait for next Friday before heading to Madrid.

"Well now that that's all finished, Natalie, what was it you and Eric Peterson were talking about outside Abercorn?" Cake chimed mischievously.

"Who's Eric Peterson?" Dmitri raised a suggestive brow.

"Cake!" Natalie protested, "Have you been spying on me?"

"Can you blame me, Nat? I mean honestly, the traffic cameras in London are so easy to hack its practically irresistible. Unfortunately they don't have sound. So, spill. What did he say?"

"Was that the guy you were talking to when I pulled up?" Mac asked.

"That's none of your business," Nat shot back.

"And yet. Was it?" Dmitri had taken the bait and would not let it go.

Siena broke into the conversation, "Boys, leave her alone. Nat can talk privately to anyone she wants."

"Thanks, S."

"But just so you know you're debriefing me on this tonight," Siena whispered to Natalie.

"Mac do you still have those mics set up around the house?" Dmitri asked.

"Mics? Mac!" Siena frowned at him.

Mac shrugged apologetically and shot a look of annoyance at Dmitri who snickered.

"Ugh!" Natalie curled up in her seat, shielding her embarrassed face with her hands, "You people are exhausting!"

She peaked out between her fingers to see James raise an eyebrow. "Eric?"

Natalie was suddenly defensive, "I'm allowed to have friends."

"If he's just a friend then why are you blushing?" Dmitri's signature grin was especially playful.

"Why do you care?" Natalie was looking pointedly at James.

"Is he going to get in the way of the heist?" James asked.

"No."

"Then I don't care. Date whichever lacrosse playing rich boy you want, Miss West. Its not my concern."

"Fine, then. I will."


	3. Can't Sleep

"Can't sleep?"

Natalie shrugged. "I'm on London time. How about you?'

"Rio time." Kat answered. She flicked the kitchen lights on and walked to the freezer. The petite thief opened a bag of broccoli and pulled out a small tub of cookie-dough ice cream. "Don't tell, Nick. He's a cookie-dough fiend."

"Does hiding it like that really work?" Natalie asked.

Kat shrugged, "Nick hates broccoli. Refuses to go near the stuff. But luckily James inherited my love of broccoli."

"And his love of squash? Was that from you too?"

Kat wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Must be from his father's side." She handed Natalie a spoon and they began to attack the ice cream together.

"How is he? James?" Kat asked. It occurred to Natalie that normal mothers should never have to ask that question of someone they barely knew. But there was nothing normal about Katarina Bishop.

"He's the same as when I met him, just more focused," Natalie replied.

"Sometimes I worry he sets his sights on targets that are too big."

"He's a Bishop, he has to live up to the name."

"And you're a West."

Natalie sighed, "And I'm a West."

"Natalie, I watched Hale go through the same thing you're going through now. We nearly lost him. I nearly lost him."

"This is different. I haven't lost anyone like he has."

"It may be different but I want you to know that you don't have to keep pulling jobs. The crew will be there whether you're one of them or not. Family doesn't disappear just because you don't have time to rob the Queen of England anymore."

"Family?" Natalie asked hesitantly.

Kat chuckled, "Of course you're family, Natalie. You didn't think we let just anyone in here did you?"

"Thank you," Natalie said. "It means more then you know."

"Don't thank me. It was James who brought you to us. Our side of the family has a long standing tradition of bringing in strays."

"Well, I don't think James could get rid of me now even if he wanted to."

"Siena thinks you two are bad for each other," Kat commented in a nonchalant manor.

"Siena worries too much." Natalie renewed her assault on the ice cream.

"Every crew needs someone to reel them in," Kat warned.

"Push and pull," Natalie nodded. "That's what Siena says every time someone suggests robbing the Parisian mafia's wine cellar."

"The problem with you and James is that both of you are pushing. Someone's got to pull sometime or you'll end up pushing yourselves off a cliff."

"Too late," Natalie smirked.

"I was like that when I was young too. Never knowing when to pull back. Reckless, dangerous."

"What changed?"

"The one thing that changed everything, James was born. I had something to hold onto. Something more important then pulling the next big heist."

"Is it true you took James on a heist when he was only two weeks old?"

She smiled at the memory, "The Henley."

"Isn't that where you also left your husband for the police?"

"He wasn't my husband then, but yes it's something of an important place for our family." She laughed, "He still complains about that, even though we were your age when it happened. Younger even. In fact it was the reason I really got to know Nick."

"So what your saying is the best method for finding a husband is to strand men in museums with no air supply and let the police find them?"

"Well, that's the way to find the best ones."

When the supply of ice cream was depleted Kat slipped back upstairs, leaving Natalie to her thoughts. She sat at the now empty kitchen table, tracing the grains of wood with her fingers. What would it have been like to grow up here? To eat breakfast at the same table every morning. To walk through that red door knowing that there was no single place in the world where you belonged more then this one. There was no denying that Natalie had lived a charmed life. But charm alone could not sustain a lonely soul.

Natalie climbed the stairs several minutes after Kat had gone back to sleep. She still wasn't tired, but she thought she should at least lie down. At the top of the stairs a figure of shadows was sitting on the wide windowsill, gazing out at the first signs of sunrise.

James hair was slightly matted to one side from a night of sleep. Everyone in the crew knew Jay slept very little but Natalie still hadn't expected to see him awake. She creaked up the stairs and wordlessly moved to sit across from him on the sill. He heard her approach but didn't look away from the stray rays of light that were finding their way over the city's skyscrapers.

The pair sat in silence with their backs against the cool wood frame of the window; their bare toes only inches apart. Natalie studied his toes. James' feet were worn and calloused. He was always running is some way or another. She had never thought of the soles that carried him through life. Natalie hadn't noticed until that moment that the skin of her own feet had thickened.

"Its cold," Natalie muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest. The chill of the morning had overtaken her skin, raising goose bumps on her bare legs.

"It scarred." At first she was unsure what he meant, but then James reached forward to take hold of her forearm and she knew what he referred to.

A silver line etched its way down the lower half of Natalie's forearm. A scar from an old job. Her first job. While trying to find an entrance to an underwater cave, Natalie had been stolen by the tide and thrashed against the cave walls. Her body had been littered with scrapes and bruises but only this particular cut had scarred.

"I didn't realize it was that deep." James traced the jagged line to her palm.

"It wasn't, really."

"I hate to say it, but it won't be the last scar you'll get from a heist."

James still traced the silver line. They were sitting forward now, toes touching. "How many scars do you have?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Lost count."

"Do people ever ask about them?"

"You mean besides nosy British girls?" He teased. "Sometimes."

"I suppose they add to your mystery."

"Mystery? Hardly."

"What's this? The infamous James Edward Bishop doesn't think he's mysterious?"

"I hope not. Mysteries make people curious and curiosity is bad for business."

"What would you be if you weren't a thief?" She asked on impulse.

"I guess I would be a regular teenager."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I meant as an occupation."

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on. Think about it."

"That's just it. I can't think about it. I'm not like you, Natalie." He looked over at long hall of doors that hid the sleeping crew from sight. "None of us are. I don't know what I would be if I weren't a thief. It's all I've ever known. All I ever will."

"But haven't you ever wondered what it would be like, if you hadn't been raised by criminal masterminds?"

"Of course I have, but not about what job I would have. I think about what might have happened if I had met you on the Tube, or on a busy street instead of the Louvre. If I would ever have gotten to know you. We could even have been classmates."

"I go to an all girls school." Natalie teased. "You would have to wear a little plaid skirt."

"So maybe not classmates. But you know boys from other schools don't you?"

They both fell silent at that. Natalie knew he was thinking of Eric.

"You know I'm not dating him, right?" She asked.

"Why does it matter that I know?"

"It doesn't." Natalie leaned back against the window frame, suddenly defensive

"Don't," James reached for her hand to pull her back to him. "I don't want you to shut me out. I just want to talk to you."

"But you're right. Why would my love life matter to you? It doesn't. It shouldn't."

"No. It does matter. I'm tired of putting business first. You're my friend and if someone is important to you then I want to hear about them."

"And you would tell me if you met a girl?" Natalie was skeptical.

"Would you want me to?"

"Of course." Natalie smiled to herself at the thought, "Jay Bishop in love. I can't even imagine such a thing."

James let his eyes wander across the skyline, "I don't know, maybe its not such a ridiculous thought."

The pair looked out the window as the sun rose and the long night receded into long shadows. Rays of light slid over the skyline, wrapping them in morning's embrace. The sun rose from the horizon and set the skyscrapers ablaze with light. The pair of thieves watched as the last whispers of darkness slipped past them to the west and once more day broke into this world.


	4. A Broken and Beautiful Thing

**Long time no talk. I'm being bad and uploading this chapter early but I've run out of patience. I know its a little dull right now but trust me things pick up in chapter five and they don't stop after 't forget to review :) The more reviews I get the more likely I am to publish chapters early. Enjoy...**

Cake had evidently been waiting behind the door as the moment Natalie finished bribing the guards and had rung the bell the door flung open with a great bang and she was hauled into the crisp white foyer by her petite friend.

"Darling, I've missed you! Excellent you brought cake!" Natalie was kissed on both cheeks by Cake's whirling form and promptly relieved of the pastry box in her hand.

"There's apple strudel in there as well," Natalie called as she followed Cake's bouncing shadow into the parlor. "I thought we might mix it up this time."

"Through here," Cake chimed. "How was the Brownstone? I was looking at images from some street cameras and it looks like Rose has grown another few inches since I last checked. But then again it's so hard to tell from those angles. There's no doubt she'll be stunning when she grows up, you can see it in the cheek bones."

Natalie followed the chatter through a set of French doors into an old fashioned green house. Pastels bloomed from every direction. Bluebells dripped from their stems and while a soft breeze stroked the roses. Tendrils of ivy stretched their way up to the skylight, falling short of freedom by only a few feet and cascading downwards, forming a canopy over the entire wonderland. Natalie waded forward through the aroma of lavender and sunlight, to find Cake seated beneath a small cherry tree, a teapot poised in her hands. "Earl Grey if I remember correctly?"

"As if you every forget anything. I didn't know you gardened," Natalie took in the overwhelming surroundings as she settled down at the tea table.

Cake surveyed the wonderland with an uninterested expression, "I had some time on my hands. But how is everyone? Is Dmitri's leg healing, because I've been 'ooking int' 'ome treatments an'" Cake's chatted on as she stuffed her face with strudel. For such a lady, Cake was quite the messy eater when it came to pastries.

Natalie relayed every ounce of news she had absorbed over the weekend and Cake soaked it up as she made her way through the box of pastries.

"I almost forgot." Natalie dug through her bag. It was considerably harder to find things in it now that she was carrying around a grappling hook, gloves, rope and a comms. unit. "I picked up your mail on my way in."

She handed the stack of envelopes to Cake who popped the last of the strudel into her mouth.

"The usual bills and such." Cake's tone became bitter, "Another postcard from my dear mother."

"Where are they now?" Natalie inquired sympathetically.

Cake flipped the postcard over to show her a glossy image of Machu Picchu. Embossed in bright yellow letters on the bottom were the words 'Wish you were here!' that made Natalie wince. "I'm sorry, Cake."

Since Cake's arrest and sentencing almost three years ago her mother, father and brother had been on an 'extended vacation' and every so often sent her a postcard or picture back to the house to, in her mothers joking words, 'just let her know that they were still alive'. They never bothered to inquire if Cake was 'still alive' and the letters and over forms of written torment never had a return address. With her hacking abilities it didn't take Cake to find the address of the Tokyo apartment where her family was now residing, a safe distance away from the shame and embarrassment that was Cake's house arrest.

The petite girl simply pushed her hair back and brushed the mail aside, "Who needs family when you have a crew, right?" She smiled but the bite had not yet disappeared from her tone.

"Right." Natalie launched into the story of Aunt Gabrielle's reaction to Dmitri's dog bite to distract Cake.

The small girl nodded, "I was thinking about it the other day, you know I've never actually met Dmitri?"

"You two talk all the time," Natalie protested.

"Through a screen,"

"Well, I'll bring him with me next time,"

"Don't bother, you all have enough on your plates without having to go out of your way to visit me."

"Cake, you could be on the moon and I would come visit you. I miss you and I hate seeing you trapped like this." Natalie took Cake's hands in her own.

"I doubt you hate it as much as I do."

There was a long pause as Natalie noticed how thin Cake's wrists had become. Suddenly she found the aura of the lavender suffocating. "Lets sneak you out!" Natalie exclaimed.

"Nat…" Cake warned.

"No, really! We could do it. We could drug the guards and Dmitri and James could take their place then take you out under the pretense of another court appeal hearing. Siena and I would pose as court officials and-"

"Honey, don't get me wrong its not that I don't appreciate the thought but it won't work."

"Yes, it will! You have the best thieves in the world on your side. And Jay's Uncle Simon has disabled tons of tracker bracelets before. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a trip to Germany. "

"And what happens when I get out?"

"You would be with the crew. We would keep you safe. Cake, you'd be free!"

"I'd be a criminal for the rest of my life. Always on the run. That's not free, Natalie."

"We could find some way to scrub the system of your files. It won't be easy but we'll do it."

Cake put a hand on Natalie's arm to stop her. "You can't steal me, darling. And you sure as hell can't steal the past."

Natalie froze in her tracks; the sadness in Cake's eyes was almost too much to bear.

"No, I have two more years in this prison. And I'll finish the time I owe. After all, I did the crime, I deserve it."

"I'm sorry, Cake."

"Never mind that. On to more important matters. Is Eric still as adorable as he was three years ago? Does he still have his four pack?"

Natalie smiled, for once glad to discuss Eric if only to change the subject. "It's a six pack now."

"Do you like him?" Cake was nothing if not direct.

"Do I like him? What are we still in Year five? Next you'll ask me if I'll kiss him in the playground when no ones looking."

"Don't avoid the question, West, or I'll drag it out of you."

"I don't know, he's very…nice."

"He is nice."

"And kind."

Cake nodded, mock thoughtfully.

"And, you know,…"

"Absolutely gorgeous?"

Natalie hid her blushing face in her hands. "Yes, okay? He looks like a Calvin Klein model."

"There's no shame in admiring something beautiful, especially if that someone is admiring you back." Cake teased.

"He was not- he is not."

"No? How many times has he texted you this weekend?"

Natalie looked down at her phone and her blush spread. "Shut up."

Cake laughed, "So, darling, the ultimate question here is not if he is falling for you, but if you, my nimble fingered, questionablely conscienced friend, are falling for him."

"I don't know. Maybe I could, if I talked to him more. I mean it makes sense to fall in love with him, right? He's the sort of guy you're supposed to fall for."

"Neigh, my darling, he is the man every hetro woman dreams of falling in love with. He's practically a living Greek god."

"I know, but now that he's standing there in front of me it feels like it doesn't fit. I guess I always pictured the man I would love as a little more like me."

"Oh, so its crazy you're looking for?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha, very funny. Besides how could I date Eric if I'm jet setting every weekend to carry out highly illegal activities? I doubt James would let me bring him on a heist and Eric's just not the type to get into, well, what I'm into."

"Few people are, honey. But Nat, you have to ask yourself how much you're willing to give up for all this." Cake motioned to the blue prints and forged papers poking out of Natalie's handbag.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, darling. You must have noticed it by now? Juggling school and heists and your West Industries responsibilities like you do, it can't last forever. You can't have the boy and the priceless Monet."

"Says who?" Natalie said defiantly.

"Life." Cake replied, deadpan. "Darling, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the life we live has costs. It requires choices. Ones you can't avoid. I'm paying for the choices I made, Natalie. All of this," Cake made a grand sweep of the arms to her golden prison. "is my fault.

"Would you do it again? Knowing what you do now?"

"I honestly can't say." The bitter had vanished from Cake, and what was left was broken. She inhaled and reanimated herself, waving away the depressing thoughts. "Enough about this. We were talking about the real outside world. What are you wearing to the benefit dinner tomorrow night?"

"I hadn't decided. Maybe my purple Kenzo dress."

Cake's brows pulled together. "You wore that last year. Honestly, sometimes I think you've been spending too much time with Siena. Her phobia of fashion is rubbing off on you."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Alright, all wise one, what do I wear if not the Kenzo?"

Cake sat up straighter, suppressing a smile, "Luckily, my young padiwan you have a skilled master that has already worked out your outfit."

Natalie eyed the tiny girl, "Dior?"

Cake took a sip of her tea, pinky extended.  
"Then its Channel?"

"Care to guess again, darling?"

Natalie eyed her, "You didn't?"

"I didn't what?"

"McQueen?"

Cake's smile broke out into a grin.  
"Eek!" Natalie squeaked. "What collection?"

"Plato's Atlantis of course." Cake understood Natalie's deep love of anything Alexander McQueen.

Nat leapt up to hug the small girl. "You are the best! How do you always know exactly what I need?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder at, darling. Now scurry upstairs and try it on. I'll need to have Matilde help me with the tailoring if it's off."

Natalie ascended the marble stairs to find the dress laid out for her in the guest room. She knew the house like the back of her hand, having visited Cake's prison so often.

As she walked into the greenhouse, dressed in her new attire, Natalie was struck once more by the fantastical beauty of it all. Roses exploded against white lilies. The petals were stirred by the slightest of breezes as if the entire greenhouse breathed together.

But it was the girl in the center of it all that made Natalie pause. Cake hadn't heard her approach. She was turned away, mesmerized by some unseen thing. The bones of Cake's hunched back protruded through the fabric of her cardigan. Her sharp cheekbones threatened to pierce the sunken flesh around her tired eyes. She titled her head back, and Natalie could see that her gaze was fixed upon the open window above, fingers playing with the stream of sunlight, as if it were something foreign, dangerous.

The broken creature stirred. Cake became aware of Natalie's presence and turned to face her with a faint smile, nodding approvingly, "Beautiful. Absolutely stunning."

**As always, thank you so much for reading and don't forget to drop me a line in the reviews or send me a message to share your thoughts on the chapter. Any questions are welcome. I anticipate that this next week will be the most stressful week of my life thus far so make my day and tell me what you think :) -George&amp;Eckles**


	5. Standing Offers

**Gah! Thanks so much for the reviews guys! You make my week :) You asked for Hale and you're going to get him. A whole lot of him. Unfortunately Hale was always a hard character for me to grasp (part of why I love him so much) so writing dialogue for him is near impossible. I will just remind you guys that this is a grown up Hale portrayed here and he has changed over the years. But if any of you have experience writing for difficult characters like Hale any advice would be appreciated. But don't worry, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Hale is at the center of the plot for this story (You can look forward to some massive betrayals, as the title suggests). Anyways keep the reviews coming and I hope you enjoy :)**

It might have been a boring affair. Natalie had been to so many galas before. This one was no different. The same characters filled the same halls and ballroom. The same food was served in copious amounts. As always the conversations skirted around the edges of actual substance. Eric Kennedy wasn't even hear to entertain her. He was away at some sporting event.

Natalie was older now, so she no longer was expected to trail behind her parents and pose as the perfect child. At almost eighteen years of age, she was now expected to have her own dull conversations, make her own business connections. It might have been the same sort of boring affair it had always been, had Natalie not spotted a familiar head of blond hair weaving through the crowd. Black.

For a moment, Natalie contemplated whether or not she should be afraid. After all it was only a few months ago that she and James had thwarted his heist by jumping, or in Natalie's case being tackled, off a forty-foot cliff into the Mediterranean. But when she looked again at his determinedly casual expression it was clear to her that he was on a new heist. She glanced around the room for his crew but was unable to spot a single member. Maybe he was working the job alone.

Natalie was vaguely aware that Hale would be in the crowd somewhere, playing the part of the businessman. Should she find him and warn him about Black? But then again any contact between them would look suspicious considering they were supposed to be business rivals. Besides, Black would never be stupid enough to try something against Hale. The suave Mr. Hale the fifth may appear to be yet another over-confident business tycoon to most but his reputation in the criminal underworld as one of the best con artists around was indisputable.

Black was no fool. But if not Hale then who was he targeting?

Before long the golden haired gentleman had slipped from sight but Natalie was determined to uncover his plot. If only for something to do.

Natalie made her rounds, inquiring about the grandchildren of so and so, remarking on the fashion choices of trophy spouses and complimenting the hosts on their choice of catering. While she moved to join Susan's conversation, (At least with Susan there was no need to fill a silence. Natalie's bubbly classmate was all too happy to prattle on about anything and everything) Natalie overheard her father singing her praises to several of his competitors, including one Mr. Hale. It was hard not to hear her father. Subtlety was not Mr. West's forte.

Susan was currently starring at Mr. Eckleberg's son, the very handsome Fredrick Eckleberg, as if she were completely engrossed in his story about his recent polo game. Natalie was just about to beg out of the tedious group when another conversation going on a few feet away caught her attention.

"What did you say your name was again, son?" Mr. Kent, the British banker asked.

"Thomas Oakes, sir. Of the Oakes family," said a familiar deep voice. Blacker was working his charm on the host of the party.

Mr. Kent seemed to run this over in his head for a few seconds. "Oakes, you say? Now see here, I've never heard of an Oakes family before."

"Well, of course you have, sir. Granted my family hasn't been out in society for the past few years, so of course the name might seem unfamiliar to you-"

Kent was eyeing him suspiciously now. "No, no. I have quite a good memory, don't I, Thelma?" Mr. Kent turned to his wife who seemed to be falling asleep with her eyes open.

"Yes, dear. Of course, dear." She murmured in agreement.

"Yes, see I do have quite a good memory and I don't seem to recall that name at all."

Blacker continued to defend his case but he was visibly struggling.

"Natalie?" Susan called her attention back to the group.

"Sorry," Natalie said. "yes?"

"I asked if you were planning to come to the Eckleberg's garden party? Fredrick's just reminded me of it and I haven't got a single thing to wear to it. Say, you've got such good taste, I really adore that Alexander McQueen you're wearing, won't you help me find something."

Natalie smiled graciously, and made a mental note to tell Cake that Susan 'really adores' her style. She would no doubt gets some enjoyment out of that as Susan has always held a particular distain for Cake.

"Say you'll come! We've haven't hung out in so long."

"Of course, I'd love to, Susan." Natalie struggled to keep up with the girl's chitchat as she split her attention between two conversations. Black was losing his charming grip on the host now.

"Perfect! I'm so excited," Susan chimed. Was she really as excited as she sounded, or was Natalie simply losing her ability to discern false thrill in the tone of her own stalk.

"Excuse me." Natalie let herself out of the conversation abruptly, leaving Susan huffing indignantly in her wake.

"Are you certain you were invited to this party, sir?" Mr. Kent continued his interrogation as the young woman strode towards them.

"Mr. Oakes!" Natalie said enthusiastically as she put out her hand for Blacker to shake. "It's wonderful to see you again. It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"

Black seemed stunned at her sudden appearance but quickly regained his footing. "Yes, good evening Miss West. It's been too long." His voice regained its usual sexy undertone.

"You know this man?" Mr. Kent inquired of Natalie.

"Yes, of course Mr. Kent. This is Thomas Oakes, of the Oakes family. I'm sure you remember him from Mrs. Collins benefit gala last spring."

Mr. Kent was one of the many businessmen Natalie had known since she was a child. He had no reason to doubt her word. She wondered what secrets he was hiding.

"Oh, yes, I believe I do." Kent warmed up to the idea.

Natalie turned back to Sam Black now as he settled into his part, "How is your aunt's health, Miss West? The last I heard she had taken quite the tumble." His mischievous smirk alerted her to the fact that he was referencing her own fall off the cliff.

"She's doing very well, thank you. It takes more then that to keep Aunt Margret down."

"Yes, well, she has always been a spirited one. I only hope she doesn't think ill of me for keeping away for so long. I've been meaning to seek her out for some time now."

Was that a threat? Maybe he really was there to enact his revenge. "I wouldn't worry. I don't think she even noticed your absence," Natalie shot back.

"Oh, I doubt that. She was always very fond of me."

Natalie laughed. Suddenly she was aware of the eyes following the conversation. She could practically hear the thoughts that circled the room. Who was this man Natalie West knew and they didn't?

Hale's back was turned to them, and he appeared to be fully engaged in his conversation with some Polish investment bankers, which of course meant that he was listening to every word that passed between the two young thieves.

Black continued, grinning, "However I always got the impression her attentions belonged to another. Are you alright, Miss West? You look suddenly flushed." Blacker was loving this.

This was too risky. She never should have jumped in to save Sam Black's neck. "You know what I think I'll get some air on the terrace. If you'll excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Kent."

"Oh, course dear." Mr. Kent had been following the conversation like a tennis match and he was clearly confused.

"I'll join you," Black offered Natalie his arm.

"Thank you, Mr. Oakes."

It was a long walk across the ballroom to the doors.

"You so owe me." Natalie hissed through her false smile.

"For what?"

"For saving your sorry butt from getting caught just now."

"The way I see it that just made us even. Don't forget that you did myself and my crew serious damage when you stole that statue in the fall."

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Natalie said. "I was the one who got tackled off a cliff."

Sam chuckled at the memory. "Yes, Bishop wasn't very gentle with you was he? I don't know why you joined his crew when he treats you like that. You'd do much better with us."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Is that a job offer?"

Black looked down at her and gave his most charming smile. "The position is always open for you, Miss West." He then leaned down closer to her ear. "I know a good thief when I see one." For some reason Natalie thought Black might actually mean it. Behind the thick mist of lies and snake like charm there must have been some sort of substance. "Just consider it." He encouraged.

"I'm happy in my current job, thank you."

"Shame. We're looking for someone to fill an opening."

"Lost someone?" Natalie inquired.

Black gave a causal nod. "Stevens. It was one of those new laser systems that got him. Walked straight through it and was shred instantly to pieces. It was a gruesome thing."

Natalie cringed. It really was a dangerous business being a thief.

"Well, I'll let you know if I come across anyone who would be interested in the job." She said.

"Much obliged, Miss West. But I must be going. I've got an old man to rob."

"Good luck."

Blacker leaned in to kiss her cheek, "Luck? There's no such thing, Miss West."

Not yet ready to return to the fray, Natalie pulled out her phone. James didn't answer. Neither did Siena. On her third try the ringing stopped and a voice said, "I thought you were busy wining and dining cancer ridden, malaria infested old bachelors. Did one of them drop dead? Or did the urge to hear my sexy voice just overwhelm you?"

"Surprisingly, neither," Natalie let the sarcasm drip off her tongue, "I'm just calling to check in."

"Everything's fine here. You can get back to your gala for… what is it this time? Dying children? Floods in Africa?"

"Nope, cancer. It's a benefit for cancer survivors, hosted by my mother's women's club and the Kent's, so naturally, there are no cancer survivors in sight."

"Naturally," Dmitri agreed. "James isn't here. He's gone out to get some new grappling hooks." He answered the question before it could be asked.

"What's everyone else up to? Last minute prep?"

"Is there any other kind?"

"Anything I can help with?"

"Sure. How about you go chat up some cancer survivors."

"Come on Dmitri, give me a reason. Any reason at all to leave this place."

"That bad?"

"If I eat another mini hamburger I might vomit."

"That would be a tragic waste of mini hamburgers. Bring me some?"

"I will if you give me a reason to come to New York."

"As much as I miss your lovely face I'm going to say negative on the excuse to dip."  
Natalie groaned, "Since when has Dmitri Antokov been the responsible one?"

"Since Siena's mood swings have made her crazy and James' judgment has been corrupted by a certain English beauty."

"I have not corrupted him," Natalie rejected that out of hand.

"You got him to pull that risky Berlin heist. Do you know how long I've been trying to convince him we should rob the Parisian mob's wine cellar? And that job is why safer then Berlin was."

"The timing was right for Berlin."

Dmitri snorted, "Sure it was."

"Tell you what I'll ask James about the Paris wine cellar job when I get there tonight after you give me a reason to come to New York."

"The party can't be that bad."

"Dmitri, I've had the same conversation about the weather at least twenty times tonight. I'm going insane."

"Well, would you rather be painstakingly forging ID badges?"

"You know I would."

"Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to for a minute there."

"Okay, so I don't have to come to New York. Just send me the photos for the ID's and I'll make the badges here."

"Or, here's a crazy idea, you could enjoy the party."

"Dmitri, come on-"

"Nope."

"But-"

"Nein."

"Alright! You win. I'll go forth and make small talk, but I won't be happy about it."

His chuckles of victory settled into a prolonged silence, broken by his soft tone when he said. "Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't wish your life away,"

"I'm not," Natalie protested. "Mini hamburgers and chit chat aren't exactly what I define as living life to the fullest,"

"I know- I get it. Just promise me you won't give it all up too soon. They'll always be another heist to pull, one more dangerous con, but don't give up on reality just yet."

"What if I want a different reality?"

"Enjoy the party, Nat." Dmitri dismissed the topic for the moment. "The thrilling world of illegal occupations will still be waiting for you when it's over. As will my inconceivably handsome face."

"Tell the crew I said hello."

"Will do."

With a definitive click the line went silent. Natalie picked at her plate of shrunken appetizers before heading back inside.

"Have you tried the mini hamburgers, yet?" W.W. Hale the Fifth strode out onto the terrace to join Natalie at the railing.

"Only about a dozen of them."

"I'm surprised you haven't ducked out of here yet."

"Its not for lack of trying. Dmitri won't give me an excuse to head back to New York."

"Dmitri being the responsible one? Now you've got me worried."

"There's nothing to worry about. The crew is perfectly in control. We haven't had an unsuccessful job in months."

"You're forgetting I used to play the game, Natalie. Under control never really means under control."

"Why weren't you at the Brownstone this weekend?"

"I was in Brazil, discussing a deal."

"Is Hale Industries expanding?"

"Possibly. The deal is delicate at the moment. It will be a few weeks before we know whether it will come to anything."

"Right, and are you telling this to Natalie the thief, or Natalie West, the businesswoman?"

He smirked, "There will come a time when you won't be able to make that distinction anymore, Nat. But for now lets say I am telling you as a member of the family. In other words discretion would be appreciated."

"Understood." Mentioning the Brazilian expansion to her father might put the deal in jeopardy. She might be a West but Natalie had more then one set of allegiances.

"Speaking of expansion and deals, Natalie West the businesswoman has a deal for you."

"I am all ears."

"You don't yet have an heir Hale Industries and in ten years or so, you'll be looking to retire."

Hale watched her intently, "Are you making an offer on Hale Industries, Miss West?"

Natalie smiled, "Possibly."

"Lesson one, kid, don't make a business offer before you've got the funds to back it up."

"Its not just a business offer. If you want to keep Hale Industries intact I'll do what I can to help."

"You can't afford me."

"No, but should be able to afford a merge."

"West and Hale Industries?" He shook his head, "I haven't given up on my company just yet."

"Merging is not a failure."

"It is to me."

"What's your other option? You have no direct heir."

"Nonetheless, I plan to keep it in the family."

"I thought you didn't have any siblings."

"I don't. But you and I both know blood doesn't make family."

"Ah, so you're passing it into the 'extended' family."

"That's the plan at the moment."

Natalie chewed it over a minute and then laughed. "Well I look forward to having Jay as my competitor."

"You don't think I'm so irresponsible as to make James my heir, do you? No, you two would tear the market to pieces trying to one up the other one. You're competitive enough when you're on the same side."

"Competition is healthy," Natalie stood up straight, "It pushes us to do better."

"Maybe, but it pushes the rest of us to the edge of insanity worrying about whatever scheme you two will try next. Besides he's too much like his mother. He's a thief, not a businessman."

"Let's be honest, they're practically the same thing."

Hale chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not."

"If not Jay then who? Rose is too young, she wouldn't even be out of Uni before you retire. Not Dmitri, he'd go mad sitting through all those board meetings."

"No, I was thinking of the less explosively inclined twin."

"Siena?"

"You seem shocked. She's the perfect candidate. Intelligent, resourceful, observant."

"She's also not a con artist. A brilliant thief, but we all know she's not comfortable being the front man for a con."

"It wouldn't be a con. She would be a businesswoman. Not everything in life is an act, Natalie."

"You expect her to give up the game just like that?"

"Like I said, she's a smart girl. I'm giving her an opportunity to come out of the shadows. To live a safe life. She just might take it."

"What makes you think she wants a safe life?"

"Because not everyone is as crazy as you are, Natalie."

"You were, once."

"And I grew up. I grew out of it."

"So what you're saying is I will inevitably have to give it all up for reality? That we all will."

Hale sipped his champagne, "Reality's not so bad."

"Yes but I'm not you," she reminded him.

"No, you're certainly not."

"I'm telling you, Siena won't take the deal," she insisted.

Hale shrugged, "Maybe not tomorrow, or a year from now. But the offer will stand. She's the best shot I have at keeping this thing going."

"Then my offer stands as well," Natalie replied.

"Are you sure? It might not be the best business decision."

"Its not a business decision. Its an offer for a friend."

Hale gave a half smile, "Goodnight, Miss West. I had better be going. I've got a meeting in New York tomorrow morning."

Natalie nodded respectfully, "Goodnight, Mr. Hale."

The suave Hale the 5th disappeared into the ballroom and Natalie thought to herself that she could only hope to be so cool at fifty.

She quickly checked her phone for messages. No luck.

Just as she was about to turn to head back into the fray of sequined cocktail dresses and black ties a glass of champagne appeared next to her hand.

"Shouldn't you be pulling a heist?" She asked.

"I already have. Care to celebrate with me?"

Natalie sipped from the bubbling gold elixir. "What did you snatch this time? I hope it was worth putting my neck out for you."

"Thank you again for that, I really am much obliged." Black pulled an ornate pocket watch from his coat pocket. The diamond encrusted hand ticked its way towards the 12th hour."

Natalie slid her fingers over the delicate metal work. "Stunning craftsmanship. Well taken care of. The detailing looks Russian. Is it Romanov?"

"It wouldn't be worth the trouble if it wasn't."

Natalie traced the carvings on the back before placing the thing in Black's open palm. "Its very elegant."

Black watched her face as he replied, "I agree. Very elegant indeed."

He was still a snake, but she saw more of herself in him now. Sam Black was a dangerous thief, but then, so was she. Was it mystery that made him dangerous, or the part of herself she saw in him? The lack of fear.

"Escape plan?" she inquired.

"I've got a truck parked a mile down the road. My colleagues are bringing it around now. Care to join us?"

Natalie turned to look back at the dull party inside. "Tempting, but as I said before, I'm not looking to switch crews anytime soon."

"The offer will stand incase you change your mind. I'm glad I ran into you. I've been dying to inquire about your double life. Heiress by day, thief by night. You're a very interesting woman, Natalie."

She broke from his gaze and glanced over Black's shoulder. "As much as I'd love to catch up, you've already got company."

"How many?"

"Four. Armed and ticked off."

"Aren't they always. It's been a pleasure, Miss West." He leaned to kiss her hand.

"Sam, get running."

With a slick grin Black was off, dashing down the terrace to the fire exit.

Natalie sighed as she watched him disappear down the steps. At its very least, talking to Black would have been interesting but now even that distraction was gone. Despite the roar of the party inside, Natalie felt as if she were standing in an empty room with nothing but the view and a receding shadow to occupy her boredom.

It wasn't long before the four guards came running out onto the terrace having seen Black bolt from the scene. One paused to inquire which direction he had gone.

Natalie half-heartedly played the part of the confused and tipsy heiress. "He headed towards those stairs I believe. Did the gentleman do something wrong?"

"There's nothing to worry about, Miss. He was a thief. But rest assured we'll catch him."

"A thief? I was talking to a thief?" Natalie gasped in mock surprise. "Well, then, a real life criminal?" She downed the rest of her champagne as the guard ran after the others. "How exciting."

**I apologize for any sloppy spelling mistakes in this chapter. I am in the middle of midterms at the moment and I don't have much time for editing (also I'm lazy). Note: You may have noticed I changed the last name of one of the characters (Not by much) but in case you were wondering yes it is the same guy from last time but no he will not be making a big return in this series(something tells me none of you will be particularly crushed by that announcement). All reviews are appreciated :) -George&amp;Eckles **


	6. Heiress

**First off, thank, thank, thank for the reviews. Sorry this one is going up late. Luckily midterms are over now so I've got some time to write before the finals-scramble starts. Thank you Onelastchapter for the advice. Writing for pre-exisiting characters isn't my strong suit (hence the second generation fan fiction) but I will try my best. Hale won't be appearing for another few chapters so I have time to work on him. In the mean time I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd love you hear from you in the reviews. Thank you for being so understanding when my posting schedule gets messed up. I am determined not to let this story fade off into nothing as working on it has really gotten me excited about writing again. Side Note: I need new reading material so if you guys happen to be working on a fan fiction make sure to mention it in your review so I can follow your stories :) Enjoy**

Natalie awoke to the clang of bells reverberating on the inside of her temples and blindly reached out to slap the snooze button before realizing it was the chimes of Westminster, her ringtone.

The bells died out and Nat let her head drop back onto the pillow willing herself back to sleep but her phone erupted into another chorus of bells as dozens of texts streamed in. Unwilling to open her eyes, Natalie's brow scrunched up in confusion. There was no way she was getting that many texts at this time of day. Was the phone broken? She didn't recall dropping it lately. Well, there was that one time in Tokyo when she was scaling the side of that office tower but that was weeks ago.

The chimes morphed into the 1812 overture and Natalie's eyes flew open. James' ringtone. She scrabbled for phone with sleep-drugged hands but didn't catch the call before it went to voicemail. Natalie scanned over her texts, looking for any messages from him. Had something gone wrong with the prep for the heist?

Nat nearly dropped the phone when it erupted into another series of chimes as more messages poured it.

One from Susan screamed across the screen in all caps 'CONGRATS! YOU'RE GOING TO DO AMAZING!'

Susan knew something Natalie didn't. Something Natalie apparently should. Natalie was officially worried.

As the baffled teenage girl scrolled down on her phone she realized the stream of congratulations was endless.

_So happy for you girl!_

_Does this mean we'll actually be seeing you around London now? _

_ Congratulations! And you're so young too! But I know you can do this. We're all routing for you! _

_ Don't forget the little people. Kidding! Congrats, Natalie. _

Natalie's eyes caught on Eric's name. _Good Moring Miss CEO. Congrats, Natalie. Guess this means I won't be seeing you around for a while. Not like a busy CEO has time for little old me. _

_Why didn't you tell me this was why you were so busy? _

CEO?

Natalie franticly flicked open her laptop, tapping on the space key impatiently as she waited for the stupid thing to boot up. She pulled up the Telegraph but didn't have to look any further because starring out of the screen was Natalie. Her lips pulled back into a reluctant smile, wavy hair cascading over the crest of Abercorn Academy that was embroidered on her cardigan. As school photos went, it wasn't that bad.

But Natalie couldn't focus on that fact as it was the title that had paralyzed her. 'Heiress to West Industries to Take Over Company at Age Seventeen'. Her tired eyes flew over the text, only picking up phrases at a time. "George West the fourth stepping down as CEO….Plans to retire to his London home with his wife…when asked about the sudden change in command, West Industries employees claimed they had no idea Miss West would be taking over…. stocks have already taken a hit revealing the fact that some investors doubt the stability of a company under the management of a youth."

"Mia!" Natalie called. She jumped to her feet and ventured out from the safety of her bedroom to find Mia.

Mia had been with the family since Natalie was two. Technically her job description said maid, but mother, sister, best friend would all have been more accurate.

But Mia was nowhere to be found and Natalie's voice echoed through the empty flat. Her phone was assaulted by another round of chimes and Nat couldn't tell if it was the vibrations or if her hands were really shaking.

_Get a grip Nat_, she mentally chastised herself, _thieves don't have shaky hands. It's bad for business. _

After a few moments of confusion Natalie stopped stumbling around the flat and decided the best thing was to call her father so he could sort all this nonsense out. Or maybe she should just call West Industries' Media team directly so as not to waste time. She wasn't sure how the newspapers got this strange idea that she was now CEO, but the media team would be able to set them straight. In fact they were probably already all over it. Natalie settled on calling her father first, but the call went to voice mail. Six times.

The seventh call was cut off before it had even rung twice and a text followed. "Can't talk right now, Natty. I'm sure you're very excited as I'm sure you've seen the news. Call your mother and her assistant will set up a lunch date for the three of us." The message was followed by a pathetic smiley face. The smiley face put Natalie over the edge and she was in the mist of throwing the phone across the room when the 1812 Overture rang out in protest.

She scrambled after the phone, "James?" Natalie hated herself for the way her voice cracked.

"I'm on my way," he answered.

"To London?"

"Just going through security now. My flight leaves in an hour."

"You don't have to do that, Jay."

"I want to."

"Thank you. But really its okay. I'm okay," she tried to assure him.

There was a long silence.

Natalie groaned, "Yeah, I don't believe me either."

"Did they give you any warning?"

"None. Or at least none that I picked up on. Dad was talking a lot about the company at the dinner party. How it had been in the family for generations. I don't know, maybe that was supposed to tip me off, but this is a little strange isn't it?"

"Strange is a good word for it."

"I don't understand how everyone knew before I did. " Natalie made her way to the kitchen, plopping down at the table where she was confronted by another frontpage.

James warned her, "Don't look at the newspaper."

"Too late. The front page? Don't you think that's a little much," Natalie's walking form was plastered on the front page of The Guardian. A headline was dashed across the top reading 'London Heiress To Takeover Multi-Billion Dollar Company At 17'. Resisting the urge to read a few lines of the article, knowing full well that it would paint her as an ill prepared, bubblehead Natalie slid the paper away from herself.

"Wait," she said, "You're not in London. How did you find out so fast?"

"Google alert."

"You have a Google alert on my name?"

"I have one set up for every member of the crew. Needless to say you're mentioned more then the rest of the crew combined. Multiplied by a thousand."

"I have a sick feeling its going to get worse," Natalie stared down the newspaper with a look of disgust. "How many times has your name popped up on a Google alert?" She asked out of curiosity.

Natalie could hear the smirk in his voice, "Never."

"Well, aren't you just the golden child of stealth."

He chuckled through the phone, "My flight lands at 2:40 your time."

"Thanks, Jay."

There was a click and he was gone. A sort of panic seized Natalie as the silence set in. The reassurance James left was drowned out by the relentless feeling of pressure bearing in from all sides and another round of chimes from her phone. Natalie wanted desperately for James to keep talking and might have succumbed to calling him back if Mia hadn't toppled into the kitchen, groceries piled high in her arms.

"Oh your awake. I'm sorry, love. I wanted to be here when you woke up. There's something I have to tell you."

"Its alright, Mia. I know. I saw the paper." Natalie relieved the small woman of her load, saying, "You didn't have to carry all that by yourself. I could have gone to the market with you."

"You haven't looked outside yet, have you?" Mia's tone was ominous.

Natalie groaned at the thought of paparazzi. "How many?"

"Too many," she answered in distaste. Patting Natalie's face reassuringly Mia did her best to whip up a smile. "There now, don't you worry about them. Sit down and I'll get started on breakfast."

Nat pulled the woman into a hug. "Thanks, Mia. For everything."

"For you, love, anything in the world."

Mia started constructing breakfast, determined that if Natalie only had a hearty English meal in her she could face down the world.

Natalie dared a peak out the window. "James isn't going to like the paparazzi. How am I going to get to Spain unnoticed when they're standing outside my door?"

"Don't look at me, love. I'll have nothing to do with it." Mia refused to even acknowledge Natalie's illegal hobbies.

"They'll give up by Friday won't they? I mean what's there to report? I never do anything exciting."

"If only that were true," Mia muttered. "Enough about that. You have more important, less illegal things to think about. After all you are soon to be CEO of West Industries. Did they really say nothing at all about it?"

"I would have told you if they had. I suppose Dad's always been an act first think later sort of person though."

"I for one think this is completely irresponsible. Honestly! Handing over such a large responsibility to a 17-year-old girl. You should be studying and going to class, not assessing the stock market!" Mia carried on for several minutes that way, slashing at the scrambled eggs with such force that most of the eggs were now on the stove top as opposed to in the actual frying pan.

"Don't take it out on the eggs! It's not their fault. Nor is it mine, so if your done murdering breakfast let me take over." Natalie gently took the spatula from Mia's hands before she could begin her assault on the sausages.

"I just worry, love," Mia sighed, "Don't they understand the pressure they are putting on you?" She began to nervously shift through the papers laid across the kitchen table, shuffling and reshuffling the bills and homework assignments. "And what about Cambridge? You were supposed to be sending in your application next month."

"I can still go to Cambridge. Besides, I might not even get in."

"Natalie, you can't run West Industries from a dorm room."

"Yes, I can. And I will. Or there's always Stanford. Dad has been talking about expanding further in the US. Having the CEO there to oversee the expansion would be a benefit. Or Colombia. That way I could be closer to the crew."

"You can't move to New York. That's too far."

Natalie was too excited by the idea to hear her. "I could finally see that old movie theater in Brooklyn Dmitri is always talking about. And Siena and I have been meaning to get brunch but we're never in the same city for long enough. She mentioned she was thinking about getting a place. We could be roommates."

"Nat, love,"

"On second thought, she'd probably want to move in with Mac."

"You can't move to New York, Natalie," Mia's tone was shrill.

"Why not? I could run the company from there."

"You'd be all alone, love."

"I'd be with the crew."

"But your family's in London."

"What family?" Natalie laughed.

"Me," Mia may have been twenty years Natalie's senior but in that moment she sounded like a little girl.

Natalie wished she could shove the words back into her mouth. Of course Mia wouldn't want her to leave. They were practically sisters. "Mia, I'm-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. Really,-"

"Its all right." The small woman titled her head back to prevent the tears from tumbling down her cheeks. "I always knew there would come a time when you wouldn't need me anymore. I suppose you haven't really needed me for years."

"No, no, Mia, no!" Natalie jumped into damage control mode. "I'll always need you. I'm not moving to New York. I was just- you know, playing around."

"I know, love. I know you wouldn't do that to me. Sometimes I worry, that's all."

After a prolonged hug and a dozen reassurances that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, Natalie stepped back and let Mia take over the cooking. Natalie decided now was not the moment to mention that she would be heading to Madrid for the weekend and opted for slightly less distressing news, "Oh, James called just before you got back. He's on his way."

"That boy again? But I thought you might want to stay around the house with me today."

"Well, James can come here then," Natalie offered.

Mia frowned. "Don't think just because you're a CEO now that the rules change. None of your 'strange' friends will step foot in this house so long as I'm around."

By 'strange' Mia meant thieves, con artists and all those practicing any form of illegal activity. Unfortunately that made up most of Natalie's friend base. "Alright, alright. We'll go else where then. And Dad told me to call Mom's assistant to book lunch."

Mia's nose crinkled in disgust. "No, you don't have to talk to that disagreeable woman. You let me handle that call." Even at seventeen years old, Mia was still trying to protect Nat from the likes of the snarky assistants. Not that Natalie minded. If she had had to talk to Cecilia, or any of her mother's other minions she might have snapped.

Mia motioned to the overcooked eggs, "Alright, grab a plate, love. Step one, breakfast. Step two,-"

"Rule the world in heels?"

Mia kissed Natalie's forehead, "That's my girl."

While Mia distracted the press at the front door, Natalie fled several blocks on foot before hailing a cab, successfully escaping the notice of the press. She made her way to the Marylebone tube station, careful to ensure that she wasn't being followed. Having descended the seemingly endless staircases, Natalie noted the time as she rushed down the corridor. Two minutes. Her plaid skirt and blazer flapped wildly as the trains blew into the station, stirring the stale air. Natalie rounded the archways to platform four and stopped short as she spotted him from across the tracks. James was no longer a just boy from a strange dream but he wore the same half smile he had almost months prior, standing in the London drizzle.

Natalie was reminded of where they were as the train thundered into the tunnel, breaking their gaze. She hurried down the platform, sprinted up the steps, over the bridge and onto the adjacent platform. The last few passengers were ducking inside the carriages, the doors about to close when Natalie broke into a run. She let her hair stream out behind her as she dashed towards the rear of the train, away from the press and the madness of it all. Natalie made it into the second last carriage as the electronic doors swept shut with a satisfactory whoosh. Catching her breath, Natalie smiled at the only other passengers in the carriage, a small boy and his grandmother, as she weaved passed them to the back door.

There was an innocent gasp from the boy as Natalie slid open the door that said 'Do not Open' and slid out from the safety of the carriage to the next while the darkness of the tunnel screamed by. Shutting the door with some effort, the thunder of the rails was blocked out once more and Natalie turned with a smile of relief to see James, completely alone, rise from his seat.

"Hello," Natalie breathed.

He smiled and the world outside the tube seemed to vanish into the darkness of the tunnel. "Hello." In a matter of seconds they had been whisked away from the platforms of St. John's Station, away from the press, from the school and the may eyed crowds of tube station with no idea where they were headed or when the world would catch up with them.

**Don't forget to review! Also I realize at this point you're probably thinking something along the lines of "So basically you're just copying the plot of the last Heist Society novel? Yeah, real original there Eckles" But wait! I promise that Natalie's taking over the company is not the main plot (really its just a side note). I know its taking forever to get to the actual story and believe me I more then anyone want to get there but for now I ask for is your patience :) Thanks for sticking with me. It means the world -George&amp;Eckles **


	7. Priceless

Some might say a painting by Renaissance artist Giotto is priceless. However the one Natalie held under her arms had recently been bought by White Inc. for 18 million. Currently it was carefully wrapped in brown paper and resembled any old mail envelope.

Natalie let the package slip through her fingers and didn't watch as it dropped through the gap between the open elevator doors. It tumbled down the elevator shaft in silence and her heart dropped with it. She might have been okay with stealing the painting but if the masterpiece was destroyed because of her she would never forgive herself. Natalie listened for the sound of 18 million dollars hitting the base of the elevator shaft, but no echo came.

She suppressed a smile. Good old, Mac. Always right where he should be, ready to make the catch.

The doors rolled shut and Natalie tried to keep her jittery hands still while she waited for the chime announcing her arrival on the 32nd floor.

She hadn't made it four steps out of the elevator before two nervous guards approached her. "I'm sorry, miss, but I'll have to ask you to come with us." The elder guard said. He looked close to retirement and the worn look on his face said he was very much ready for it.

Natalie folded her brow into a practiced frown. "Is there a problem?"

The younger guard couldn't have been older then twenty-five, and he clearly lacked the finesse of his partner. "Yes, there is. A painting has gone missing from the gallery."

"Missing?" Natalie's brows shot up, "As in you lost it?"

"As in it was stolen."

"Then shouldn't you be looking for the thief?"

"That's what we're doing," The young guard was losing his patience with her questions, "You match the description given by a gentlemen in the gallery who witnessed a young woman leave the room with package."

"Oh, I see."

The elder guard spoke up, "We don't wish to offend, Miss, but we'll have to ask you to come with us so that some of our guards can search your purse."

"No, of course. Anything I can do to help. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."

Relief passed between the two men when Natalie didn't appear offended. "We appreciate it, miss. We can't be too careful," The elder guard said.

"No, no, of course not." Natalie paused a moment, "The package wasn't brown, was it?"

The guards exchanged a look, "Yes." They said in unison.

"I'm sure it was nothing," The charming girl brushed it off.

The younger guard cleared his throat, "If you have any information that could be helpful, Miss, we would appreciate it-"

"Now that I think of it, I believe I saw a young woman, well she couldn't have been much older then I am, with a package under her arm. She got off several floors before me."

The younger guard pressed her for the floor number.  
"I'm sorry, boys, I really can't remember, but I think it must have been the 24th or 26th floor. Or something around there."

At that moment a stunning young assistant rounded the corner, and strode towards them with purpose, "Is this her?" She demanded of the two guards.

The men just starred, dumbfounded, into the woman's stunning green eyes.

"I was instructed to escort a young woman down to the security office to have her purse checked," The woman explained, "Is this her?"

The elder guard was the first to overcome the paralyzing affect of those green eyes, "Uh, yes. Patrick sent you?"

"Yes. And he said that you are supposed to head to the 26th floor. They need your help there."

The younger man turned to his partner. "They must have found her."

The elder guarded nodded first to his partner then to the girls, "Excuse us, ladies."

"Good luck, boys," Siena smiled as they parted before turning to Natalie. "Right this way, Miss."

Siena locked the stairwell door behind them. Heels in hands, the girls bounded down the stairs. Natalie spoke into her mic as she ran, "James, we're in the stairwell. Rendezvous in six minutes?"

James' response was immediate, "Make that five minutes, 40 seconds. Those guards have already made it to the 26th floor and they don't look impressed. I left the van out back. You going to make it in time, Mac?"

"I should get there before Nat and Siena do. I'll have the engine running. Doors will be open."

"Thanks, Mac. You're a doll," Natalie chimed.

They were passing the 22nd floor when Siena called down to Nat, "That's a cute jacket. Did Cake pick it out?"

"This old thing? Nah, Cake wouldn't approve of it."

"I certainly do not approve," Cake agreed.

Siena laughed, "Must be why I like it so much. Mind if I borrow it?"

"Why? You got a hot date coming up?" Natalie teased, knowing full well that Mac could hear.

"Dating?" Dmitri broke in. "Who's my sister dating?" As intended, Natalie's remark had set off a squander of jokes between James and Dmitri about Siena's non-existent dating-life. While their jests ricocheted through the comms, Natalie threw a glance over her shoulder and caught a look at Siena's vengeful smirk that seemed to say '_Two can play at that game'_.

"You know what, Nat," Siena shot back, "you should hold on to the jacket. You can wear it to lunch with Eric on Monday."

There was a moment of silence on the comms before James' tense voice broke it, "I thought you had to cancel your lunch plans."

Natalie groaned, "Can we all please just focus on the heist?"

"Good idea," Mac said, "I've got the van ready."

"Perfect timing," Siena smiled, pushing her way through the fire escape door onto the back street. The girls were in the back of the van and being swept off into on coming traffic before anyone had the chance to look their way.

Siena climbed into the passenger seat beside Mac and Natalie didn't fail to notice that the slender girl's hand rest on Mac's shoulder longer then necessary. She didn't think Mac would miss it either.

"Everyone's in, Jay," Mac called over the roar of the old engine. "We're headed your way. Be there in two minutes, tops."

"I'll be waiting for you. We'll see you soon Dmitri."

"I'll have everything packed by the time you get here," Dmitri replied. His injured leg meant that he wouldn't be partaking in any heists for a few weeks yet so the crew had left him at the hotel. "It should be smooth sailing from here on out so I'm going to shut my comm. off. Get back safe boys and girls."

"Will do. Okay, Dmitri is off the air," Jay announced.

It was then that Natalie spotted the truck. "S, I don't like the look of that SUV. The one on the right. It's been on our tail for at least four blocks."

Siena spun around to get a better look. "Hey Cake?"

Cake chimed in, "What can I do for you, my darling?"

"Can you run a plate number for us? KHO 0517."

There was a pause and the sound of a fingers flying across the keyboard before Cake spoke again, "Damn, not good, loves. It's registered to White Inc. I suggest you lose that tail before you start sprouting fur."

"I'm all for that idea. Forget the planned route, its time we improvise," James voice was tense now. "Mac?"

"My pleasure." The tires screeched as Mac broke through several lanes of traffic to their left and swerved to miss a streetlamp. The van tore its way through the streets and back alleys as its passengers held on for dear life. There were only two things in the world could make Mac smile. An old fashion car chase was one of them.

After several tense moments and some chose swear words from Natalie after each sharp turn, Cake spoke again, "I've got satellite images up, my darlings but its looks like they're still on your tail. Make that three SUVs."

"I don't get it. How are they still keeping up with us?" Siena asked.

"Don't know. But we need to get you guys out of there. Ditch the van." James ordered.

"There is a bus pulling up at a stop not 200 meters in front of you," Cake provided information from her bird's eye view. "You'll want to catch that one."

"Understood," Mac replied through clenched teeth as he slammed on the breaks.

The van screeched to a halt in the parking spot and its passengers disappeared into the crowd carrying only a seemingly ordinary package. The SUV's roared past as three thieves climbed onto the bus, not caring where it was going, not giving a damn when they would get there.

Mac, Siena and Natalie made four more bus changes but before too long the SUV's returned to tail them.

"How are they tracking us this far?" Siena tried to keep the panic from creeping into her voice.

"They must have satellite access as well," Cake answered.

"Then its time we went underground," James took control, "Cake where's the nearest subway entrance?"

"Grand Central. Get off at the next stop and head one block east. I'll figure out what's rolling into the station."

By this point the crew had lost all hope of discretion and when the bus parked itself at the next stop the three thieves were the first off the bus, sprinting toward Grand Central station.

When the trio descended the stairs to the lower levels the comms went dead in their ears. Cake's voice disintegrated into crackles.

"That's our technical support gone," Natalie panted as they sped walked across the platform.

"Then we'll have to make it on our own from here." Mac answered ushering them onto the nearest train. Two line changes later the crew was still being followed.

"That's impossible," Siena said. "How could they have followed us here?"

"There must be a tracker on the painting." Natalie said.

"Can we get it off?" She asked.

"There's no frame so it must be on the painting itself. I don't know if we could remove it without damaging the work," Mac eyed the parcel tucked under his arm.

"That's not an option," Natalie insisted.

"Alright, so we ditch it." Siena suggested.

"This is by Giotto for heaven sake, we can't just toss it on a bench and hope it ends up somewhere safe."

"I don't care if it's the keys to heaven. Its not worth getting caught," Siena threw her hands up in exasperation.

"S, Natalie may have been wearing gloves but I'm not. My fingerprints are all over this thing," Mac's voice was low compared to the train that roared into the station beside them.

"Alright, alright," Siena backed toward the trains as its door slide open, "We get on this train and we keep going until we find some way to get rid of the tracker or remove the fingerprints."

"We can't run forever. We already know they have more resources then we do." Mac tried to reason with her.

"We'll do it. We have to. Come on!" she led the way towards the nearest open train doors. Shouts from the other side of the platform alerted them to the appearance of their pursers.

"Move! Now!" Mac ordered, as he urged Natalie forward with a hand on her back.

The trio pushed their way to the nearest car doors but Mac paused in the doorway, and looked down at the package in his arms. Their pursuers were gaining on them. The doors tried to roll shut but Siena stopped them before they could separate her from Mac. "Hurry up! The doors are closing."

From down the train someone yelled at them, "Hey, stop blocking the doors!"

"Back off!" Natalie shouted back in true New York style.

Siena was grasping at Mac's shirt, "Mac? Get on the train, Mac."

He tried to detach her hands from him, "Step back, Siena."

"What are you doing?"

He shook his head, "I'm not bringing you down with me. They won't follow you."

"Stop being an idiot. We don't have time for this. Mac, just get on the train-"

"Don't hate me. Please, don't hate me." Mac's lips crashed against hers. Breaking apart, he shoved Siena with enough force to send her stunned form falling backwards into the train. Now unimpeded, the subways doors slid shut, separating the pair. Before Siena could scramble to her feet and pry the doors open the train was moving and Mac was sliding away from them.

Siena banged on the train doors, screaming, "Mac! No, no, no, no! Mac, don't! Damn you!" The doors wouldn't give and the girls were forced to watch as Mac was overtaken by their pursuers and knocked to his knees, arms high in surrender. The priceless Giotto was knocked to the ground beside him. Even as he slammed into the ground, Mac's eyes didn't leave Siena's until the train disappeared into the tunnel.

The scene evaporated before them and Natalie couldn't breathe. Every eye on that train was focused on them but neither of them could bring themselves to care. Siena turned toward her and in the moment Natalie saw the unbreakable girl crumble before her eyes. "We have to help him. We have to stop the train," Siena sobbed.

"We can't Siena. They would only grab us too."

"No! No, we have to go back." Siena collapsed against the doors, sliding to the floor as wave after wave of sobs racked her body. "Please Natalie! Do something!"

"I-I can't. S, I'm sorry. I don't know how. I'm so sorry, Siena." But the girl on the floor couldn't hear her. Siena rocked back and forth, drowning in her own grief, "Please, help him. They're taking him away. Please, just help him."

But Natalie couldn't do anything but hold the broken girl in her arms and tell her soft lies, "He'll be okay, S. I promise he'll be okay."


	8. Cheshire Cat

**Sorry for the extended absence. As always your reviews make my day so please do drop me a line and let me know what you 're finally getting into the central conflict of the story and I am can't wait for you all to read the next few chapters. Enjoy**

It had been three days.

Three days of endless searching.

Three nights of pretending not to hear Siena sobbing into her pillow.

Three days of Dmitri lashing out in anger as he was forced to sit idly in the apartment while the rest of the crew scoured the city.

Three days of anxious calls from Aunt Elena begging for updates on the search.

It had been three days since James was forced to call his mother and explain that Mac had been captured.

By the third day their last hopes of finding Mac were burning away with each passing minute. Kat had the entire family reaching out to their criminal contacts in hopes that someone, anyone knew where Teller's men had taken the young thief. Cake monitored every police system across the globe in hopes that they would turn him over to the authorities. The crew could break him out of jail no problem, but they could not bring a dead man back to life.

Everyone knew it, but no one dare speak the words aloud: Mac Bagshaw was most likely dead.

It was on the third night of the search that Dmitri had to send Natalie away. "Its no use staying Nat. You've searched the entire city. He's not here. And if you miss this business dinner the press will be looking for you and that's something we can't afford right now."

"I know, I know but I can't just leave. The crew needs my help. I won't abandon the effort just because it gets in the way of some dinner."

Dmitri stopped her pacing and put his hands on her shoulders, "Nat, look at me. It won't do any good. We could tear this city apart and it wouldn't matter. He's not here."

"Then what do we do? We can't just let him go, Dmitri. Not like this," Natalie failed to restrain the tears.

He pulled her into a hug, "We'll get that stupid ginger back. I swear we will."

"But I can't leave Siena. She's taking this hard. I need to be here for her."

"Natalie, Siena hasn't talked to anyone since it happened. I doubt she would notice if you were here or not."

"But when she snaps out of it she's going to need someone." Natalie took his hands in hers. "Promise me you'll be there for her when she does. And not just with jokes and charm, but really there for her."

He was taken aback by her request. "Nat, I'm her twin. I'll always be there for her."

"Swear it?"

He set his forehead against hers and flashed her an attempt at his signature grin, "Hey, when have I ever let you down?" He was trying to be playful.

Natalie did her best to play along, "That's debatable."

Dmitri popped Natalie's hood over her head and spun her toward the door, "Good, now get out of here, heiress."

"Jeez, will you at least let me get my stuff and say goodbye?"

Dmitri tapped his invisible watch. "Hurry up with it, girl. You flight leaves in three hours."

"You're going then?" James appeared in the doorway as Dmitri hobbled past him on his bad leg.

"Not if you want me to stay," Natalie said.

"No. You need to get back to London," he seemed to wince at the hardness in his own tone. "Its not that I don't want you here, its just-"

"I know." Natalie cut him off. "I'll be back to join the search the day after tomorrow. Is Siena back yet? I want to say goodbye before I go," she turned her back to him and began to gather her things.

"She won't be back for hours yet. I'll tell her you've gone when she shows up."

"Make sure she eats, alright. And if she won't sleep then strap her to the bed."

"Siena can take care of herself, Nat."

"Not now she can't," Natalie insisted as she pushed the rebellious strands of hair from her face

"What happened down there? In the subway."

Natalie froze, "What do you mean?"

James picked up a smoke grenade that had rolled free of Natalie's duffle bag and began to pass it back and forth between his hands. "She's been taking this hard. Did she do something that she might feel guilty about?"

"Of course she didn't," Natalie snatched the grenade from his grasp.

"Nat, I'm just trying to understand," he pleaded with her.

"I know you are, Jay, but I don't think anyone can understand what's going on in Siena's head right now."

"You seem to."

She pushed past him to Siena's side of the room and carefully lay out a jacket on the other girl's bed. It was the embroidered one she had worn on the heist. Natalie thought that lending it to Siena might cheer her up, but then again it might only serve as a reminder.

"Just be sure that when you do find him you approach the situation carefully, alright? The last thing we need is another missing person," Natalie said as she second-guessed herself and snatched the jacket up again, tossing it on top of her bag.

"Of course," he agreed. "I should get back to the search." She didn't watch him shift toward the door, "Nat?"

His tone gave her pause, and she turned to face him. "Yeah?"

James seemed to rethink his words; "I'll see you in a few days." She wasn't sure if he was reassuring her, or himself. Without another word James retreated out the door, leaving Natalie to pack what little things she had brought with her.

It had been three days of torment.

"Are you alright?"

Natalie reminded herself for the tenth time that evening that Eric was just trying to be nice. But at that moment in time, Natalie hated nice.

Plastering a false smile onto her lips Natalie nodded, "Of course, why do you ask, Eric?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you look miserable."

"Do I?"

"Come on, N, just tell me what's up." N? When the hell did he start calling her N? "And please don't insult me by saying its nothing."

She would have to give in a little bit if she had any hope of escaping his questions. "Alright, fine. A friend of mine is in trouble and there is nothing I can do to get them out of it. Can we drop it now?"

Eric's brow curved into a look of careful concern, "Is it Susan? I know she's been hanging around with some of those boys from Wellington Academy and they've always been a bit rough-"

"Susan? Who gives a damn about Susan? Her father can buy her out of any trouble."

Eric laughed even though he knew he shouldn't. "That's very true but it's not like you to say so. If not Susan then who?"

"Look, Eric, I know you're trying to be supportive, and it means the world to me, really it does, its just that telling you will only make the situation worse. You understand don't you?"

"I get it. I really do, N," There was that damned nickname again. "I just want to talk to you. About anything. About everything."

Natalie smiled in spite of herself. How often do boys tell you they just want to talk and really mean it? It wasn't fair that she was subjecting Eric to her bad mood. "Okay. Let's talk."

She turned her body to face him head-on and they both went silent. Nat could tell Eric was racking his brain for something, anything, to say. "Art! You like art, don't you?"

Natalie nodded; trying not to look too amused by the lengths Eric would go to start a conversation. She knew for a fact that the entire Holden family thought art was a waste of money. "You want to talk about art?" She worked hard to keep herself from raising a skeptical brow.

"Sure, why not?" His voice oozed with false enthusiasm, "So what sort of art are you interested in?"

_The art of the well-planned heist_. "Renaissance, mostly."

"That's Degas's time period, right?"

_This was going to be painful_. "I believe you're thinking of Da Vinci," she corrected him.

"Right. So is that where you go when you travel? To visit museums?"

"Yes." Natalie didn't feel it was the right time to mention that she didn't go during normal visiting hours. She didn't read many of those teenage dating magazines but Natalie was pretty sure bringing up your extensive list of criminal activity wasn't one of their top flirting tips. Not that she was in the mood to bat her eyelashes and play dumb at the moment. More then anything, Natalie just wanted to be back in New York, searching for Mac. She debated cutting off Eric's attempts at conversation and stepping outside to call Siena, but she had called not twenty minutes ago and disturbing the search efforts would do nothing to help the cause.

Her appearance at this dinner was necessary for maintaining West Inc.'s good relations with its competitors. Natalie knew she should be conversing with all the big shots in the room, of which there was no shortage, but she couldn't bring herself to think of business at the moment.

Mr. Hale was noticeably absent. He had given some excuse about one of his yachts running aground in the Caribbean, but only Natalie he was currently making his rounds in the darkest corners of New York, paying off mobs bosses for any available information.

From the sideways glances and subtle smiles, Natalie could tell the crowd was enjoying her conversation with Eric far more then she was. The favourite activity of rich trophy wives was predicting whose children would end up together. While their drunken husbands made irresponsible business deals, their wives fed like vultures on the teenage romance and heartbreak of their children. The way Eric was smiling at Natalie now would no doubt be feasted on for weeks to come in their book clubs and committee meetings. Every action, every flirtatious laugh would be devoured and regurgitated only to be picked apart once again.

As the vultures circled, Natalie just starred at Eric's lips as they opened and closed, not caring much for the sound they made. She watched them form vowels and curl into a smile at the end of every sentence before embarking on another. The affect was hypnotizing. For a moment she searched for the endearing scar that marked the right side of his upper lip, the one he had gotten after jumping into that bar fight in Moscow Dmitri had stirred up. Natalie felt an undeniable drop in her stomach when she found no such scar and remembered that these lips belong to Eric, not James.

Natalie shifted her gaze to Eric's eyes and realized he had stopped talking and was now grinning like an idiot. "Something, interesting about my lips, Miss West?"

She really wanted to punch him now. How could he be flirting with her when she was in such a bad mood? Did he really have no idea how irritated she was at the moment?

Rolling her eyes, Natalie's vision caught on something bright orange crossing the floor.

"Mac? Mac!" She shoved past Eric with a shout and yanked the Mac Bagshaw into a hug. "You're here!"

The found boy tried to smile but the pain in his eyes was evident.

"I-I don't understand how are you here right now? Are you hurt? What happened?" Natalie demanded.

"I'm fine, Natalie," he assured her.

She released him and reached up to touch his black eye but retracted her hand when she remembered it was Mac she was interacting with, "Your eye."

"My eye is the least of our problems."

Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the room, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Not here," Mac warned. All eyes were on the two of them. Every syllable they spoke echoed through the space.

"Who's this, Natalie? Hi I'm Eric Holden." Eric moved to shake Mac's hand but Natalie cut him off by pulling Mac into another frantic hug. Eric just stood like an idiot with his hand still extended outwards. Seriously how could something so handsome be so irritating?

"I'm so happy your okay. We've got to call the others. No one's slept in days. We've been looking everywhere-"

"Ah good, Natalie, I see you've found Mr. Bagshaw. I'm sure you must have been very worried." Natalie froze at the sight of Mr. Teller watching their interactions from only a few feet away. She tugged Mac away from the man in horror.

"Natalie? What is it?" Eric asked but she only spoke to Mac.

"What's he done to you?" Natalie demanded of Mac.

"Can we go now?" Mac snapped over her shoulder at the round middle-aged man.

Mr. Teller nodded jovially, "Oh, of course. I'll let you two get back to your friends. Not to worry Miss West, we'll see each other again soon."

Mac took hold of her hand and began to pull Natalie towards the doors.

"N, what's going on?" Eric moved to follow them.

White clapped a hand onto Eric's shoulder, halting him in place, "I think it's best if we let them go now, my boy. Miss West and her friend have a lot to discuss."

Natalie allowed herself to be pulled off by Mac but she couldn't look away from Teller's beat red face grinning after her like the Cheshire Cat. The young heiress suddenly found herself in a terrifying wonderland, but she couldn't recall ever making the choice to enter the rabbit hole.

**Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to review. I've been wading my way through a difficult time these past few weeks but it means the world to know that there are people out there who enjoy what I create and are willing spend time reading my work. You'll hear from me again soon and in the mean time I wish you all the best of luck, - George&amp;Eckels **


	9. Impossible Choices

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! You guys mean the world to me. Read. Enjoy. Review! **

This was bad. Very bad.

Natalie knew Mac never paced. He never fidgeted or faltered. Mac was the boy who watched from the corner, the one who made solid, informed decisions.

Yet there he was, crossing the hotel floor again and again, refusing to make eye contact with the crew as they watched him in silence. He was too preoccupied to even notice that Siena was staying as far away from him as possible.

Unable to take the silence anymore Dmitri asked, "So he just let you walk away?"

"There's a catch," Natalie answered for Mac.

"Isn't there always?" Cake asked.

"So what is it, Nat?" Dmitri asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"He hasn't told me anything yet. Just said that there was a serious catch," she responded. All eyes turned back to Mac.

James spoke next, his eyes following Mac's intense strides, "What is it, Mac?"

The jittery boy stopped his pacing long enough to answer. "He wants us to pull a job for him."

"As in a heist?" Siena asked.

Mac simply nodded without looking at her and resumed his pacing.

"A job? Singular?" Dmitri brightened, "It could have been a lot worse, buddy." But after studying Mac's cast expression again he changed his tune, "It is a lot worse, isn't it?"

"Is it a hard target?" Natalie asked.

He only shook his head, muttering, "Its impossible."

"What does he want us to hit?" Dmitri pressed him.

Mac snapped, "We can't do it!"

"We don't know that if you won't tell us what it is," Siena said.

"No. Its impossible," Mac impressed upon them.

"So was the Louvre," Dmitri offered.

"And the Henley," Natalie added, "What ever it is Mac, we'll find a way. We have to."

Mac resumed his pacing, agitated. "You're not listening to me. We. Cannot. Pull. This. Job."

Siena slid from her stool and moved toward him and for the first time since the red haired boy entered the room she dropped the scowl from her face, her expression melted out of its cold shell. "Mac this is to keep you safe. I don't care if we have to steal the sky, we'll do it. I'll do it."

His eyes momentarily rose to meet hers and he looked as though he might reach for her but then turned away with a jerk.

James' stare locked onto that his oldest friend, "Mac, what's the target?"

The red haired boy met his gaze, terrified and tormented. "Hale industries," he sighed in defeat, "He wants us to rob Hale Industries. He wants information. Anything that will help him take it down."

"But- but we can't-" Dmitri stumbled over the words.

"Does he know our relation with Uncle Hale?" Siena demanded in a state of disbelief.

Mac nodded, "He knows. He knows about almost everyone in the family."

"Let me guess, if we don't cooperate Teller is going to the police," Dmitri growled.

"Something like that," Mac nodded.

"You said 'almost' everyone." Natalie rose to stand next to Siena.

"There seem to be gaps in his information. He knows about Aunt Kat and Uncle Hale and their old crew but he doesn't have any information on Charlie and Ro," Mac informed them, "He doesn't seem to be aware that Aunt Catherine and Uncle Hamish even have children."

"So they'll be safe? If he goes through with it all the children will be spared, right?" Siena looked to each of them with hope.

"Siena, they would be orphans," Dmitri responded, his voice small.

"Orphans," Siena breathed as she turned the heartbreaking word over in her mind.

"Ro and Charlie aren't the only ones," Mac continued, "He never mentioned Dmitri and as far as I could tell he had no evidence of him."

"But that doesn't make sense. How could he know about Siena and not her brother?" Natalie looked to the twins.

"There were no birth records," James explained, "Mac and I don't have them either. Technically we don't exist, at least in the eyes of the government."

"I can vouch for that," Cake input, "There isn't a trace of you on the web either. None that I've left standing anyway."

Natalie considered this, "Which means the only thing tying you all together for White was the evidence from the heists."

Realization washed over Dmitri, "My leg! I wasn't on the last heist because of the bite. That's got to be why he doesn't connect me to the crew."

"Is there anyone else? Anyone he might not have thought connected," James asked.

"There was no information on Uncle Link, but he even knew about Uncle Simon," Mac offered up with a grim shrug. It made sense that Uncle Link, Uncle Hamish's brother-in-law, wouldn't have been connected. He rarely left his home in Dublin and had made a point of separating himself from his extended family's criminal activities.

"And if we don't do this?" Natalie dared to ask.

Mac let himself drop back into his chair, "Then he exposes us all. Even you, Natalie. And Cake as well."

"If they find out I am connected to you- if the German government gets wind of this they will never let me leave this place. I w-will never leave this place." For once Natalie was glad that they could not see Cake on the screen. She didn't think she could have stood that. Cake's voice alone threatened to suffocate her heart.

"Yes. You will, Kai," James promised, "Damn it I swear you will get out of there. I'm not going to let Teller do this to you."

Dmitri sprang from his chair in a violent motion and then sat back down again when he remembered his leg prohibited any fast movement, "How do we know that he won't keep coming back?" he demanded, "That he won't threaten us in the same way he is now and make us do something worse next time?"

"I can't imagine much worse then robbing our own family, Dmitri," Siena said.

"I can," Mac paled.

"I don't care what he threatens us with we are not murdering people for this bastard," Jay growled. "But Dmitri raises a valid point, we have no guarantees that he won't call us back for another job, or simply hand the entire family over to the authorities after we do his bidding."

"What choice do we have?" Natalie countered. "Its not just us we would be sacrificing if we turned him down."

"But Nat," Siena's voice was low, almost a whisper, "This is Uncle Hale we're talking about. He was the man who cared for us when my mother was off conning Dukes and Lords." "He bought me my first stick of C4," Dmitri smiled at the memory, "Mom was so angry, kept shouting about how five year olds weren't supposed to handle explosives."

"So touching, and yet so messed up," Cake commented but none of them had it within them to laugh.

"It doesn't matter who he is. Not to Teller at least," James let his face fall into his hands, "We have no choice. We need to rob Hale Industries."

"But Jay," Siena's voice crackled.

"But what, Siena?" James snapped, "What do you want from me? Do you want me to come up with some spectacular trick to fix all this? Because I can't! There is no other way out. I have no way for us! I can't fix this one. I- I just can't fix this!"

The room fell to stunned silence. Never had Natalie seen James look so small. In that moment she could not pretend he was the man she knew, because right then he was nothing more then a child. And he knew it.

Natalie West wished more then anything that she could touch him then. As if one touch could let him understand that she would fix this. That she didn't see him as any less of a man because he could no longer hold up the sky while the world was falling to pieces. And if he couldn't could the hold the sky a moment longer, then she would.

"Then were doing this," Natalie spoke into the silence. "We have no choice. We're going to rob Hale Industries."

**Thoughts? Things are starting to pick up and we are finally getting into the main conflict :D You can look forward to some Mac-Siena stuff next chapter. Until next time - George&amp;Eckels **


	10. Family Issues

**You guys are awesome! Your reviews make my day so keep them coming :) In a few hours I will finish my last exam and be done with school for the summer. Which means lots of time for writing in between shifts at my menial retail job. You asked for Mac and Siena and you got it! Plus a whole lot more drama. Don't forget to talk to me in the reviews. Enjoy!**

Natalie pushed the door open with her foot while balancing the Chinese take out in one arm and her bag in the other. After Mac had dropped a bombshell on them the crew had gone into shock, wandering off to their separate corners to think. Natalie had taken charge and ordered Cake to pull up everything she could find on Teller and Hale Industries while she went out to get food. There was no way any of them were sleeping tonight and Chinese food might not fix everything, but it was her best shot at pretending this was just another normal heist planning session.

Natalie knew what she would find in the room. Mac would be collapsed in on himself in his corner chair, silent as death and still as stone. Dmitri would be pacing down the hall, or at least hobbling on his injured leg. Siena will have disappeared to the highest place she could find. Natalie made a mental note to check the hotel roof. And then there was James. James would be at the window, starring out at nothing in particular as his mind explored every possible course of action. Nat always knew exactly what to expect from her crew, but when she pushed open that door she realized just how much had changed.

"Hey, I couldn't find a Thai place so I got Chinese-Hello?"

There was no sign of them. And that was terrifying. Mac wasn't in his corner. There was no sound of pacing down the hall, and the space beside the window remained vacant.

For one terrifying moment Natalie thought they might have left her but there was no note left on the door and Siena never would have left her without an explanation.

She dropped the take out on the dining table and began to search the suite. What if Teller's men had come for them? What if releasing Mac was only a way to get to the rest of them?

Whispers echoed from the boys' bedroom and ran down the hall. "Hello?" Natalie called out.

There was no reply. Natalie felt for the pocketknife Mac had given her in her back pocket and stepped down the dead hall, listening for anything that might tip her off to a threat in the shadows. She slid into the darkened room, knife poised in her clenched fist and sighed in relief. They were silhouetted in the window, heads titled together in a hushed argument. James and Dmitri turned toward her startled. Dmitri's wide eyes glowed like green phantoms in the dark space.

"What's wrong with you two?" Natalie demanded, "You scared me. I though Teller might have come for you."

"We're alright," Dmitri assured her. "Everything is fine."

"She can tell you're lying," James spat.

"Dmitri what's going on?" Natalie clicked the knife closed and moved toward the two shadows of men.

"Go on, Dmitri. Tell her." James jerked his head back to the window. "Tell her why you're abandoning your family."

Mac found her on the adjacent rooftop. She had laid a board across the gap to the next rooftop, like she always did. As if it weren't enough to be six floors up, she also had to trust her life to a rotting piece of wood. Mac's knuckles turned white as he griped the stairwell doorway, while silently cursing himself for falling for a girl that was part bird of prey. Why did she always have to be so high up?

Mac knew why. To get away from him. It was Siena's way of making sense of the world. She liked everything best when it was at a distance. Mac did not. He had escaped a police trail at 200 km per hour, crawled through the Roman catacombs and dived into shark-infested waters but he had never been able to conquer his fear of heights.

"Hey," he called meekly.

She ignored him.

Mac raised his voice and tried again, "Siena?"

More silence.

"S, will you please just talk to me?"

"Why should I? You never talk to me. You never tell me what your plans are. Why should I treat you any differently?" Siena turned on him, obviously agitated. She stood thirty feet away and still that electric green gaze nearly knocked Mac off his feet.

He sighed, running a hand through his bright hair, and forced himself to step away from the safety of the doorway, "Yeah, I thought you might be angry with me."

"Well, you thought right." She turned back toward the skyline, determined to ignore him.

"S, please, hear me out," he pleaded.

"Leave me alone, Mac," she threw over her shoulder.

"No. I won't leave you, Siena. Never again. Not unless you want me to."

"Don't you dare," she whirled on him, screaming now. "Don't you dare lie to me, Mac!"

"I would never lie-"

"I've had enough! I'm not going to wait around for you to decide whether I'm worth it. Do you or do you not like me? And not as a friend, or a sister."

"Do I like you? You're asking me if I _like_ you?"

"It's not that hard of a question, Mac."

He stood in a stony silence at the edge of the roof.

"Ugh. You're infuriating!" She threw up her arms.

"Infuriating?" He was eyeing the six floor drop that lay in between them.

"Yes, Bagshaw. You piss me off! You and your stupid blank expressions, and your stares and your intolerable silence. It not fair. It's not fair and I'm not putting up with it anymore."

"Siena-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no! You don't get to look at me like that. You don't get to stare at me like you can see right into me and then just cut and run. I won't let you. You don't get to stare at me like that only to break my heart a second later."

"I never wanted to hurt you, Siena."

"Bullshit! You hurt me every time you turn away and you know it. Well, I'm done. No more. You will tell me the damned truth and then you will never look at me like that again. Do you or do you not like me?"

"S, please. Just calm down for a second-" Mac begged as he moved closer to the roof's edge.

"Maybe you don't understand what you're doing to me, because I can't believe that the boy that I grew up with would kiss me and then cast me off like that. Well, never again, Mac. I won't let you-"

"Would you shut up for a minute! You want to know if I like you?"

Siena nodded, scowling but holding her tongue.

"When you smile I feel it on my skin. And it's warm," He hesitantly placed a foot on the board. Even from where Siena stood she could see his entire body was trembling. "You're like sunlight to me, Siena. Maybe its possible to live without you, but I never want to find out." With every breath he took another shaking step toward Siena but his eyes never left hers

"What are you doing? Mac, the board isn't strong enough," she said.

He ignored her protests, "And now here you are, telling me that I break you every time I look at you. Siena, every time you look at me, you fix me. Bit by bit. It's gotten to the point where I can't recall what it feels like to be broken. So no I never just _liked _you Siena, because I can't remember a time when I was not in love with you."

When Siena found she could finally breath again she said, "Go back, the board can't hold you."

He took another step, "I want to know if you feel the same."

"Mac, don't. You don't have to do that. Go back!"

"No."

"But you hate heights," she insisted.

He gave a shy smile, "Not half as much as I love you."

"Mac, the board can't hold your weight. You'll fall. Please go back."

"Not until you say it."

The board wobbled beneath him, and Siena shouted, "Mac!"

He took another step forward.

"Alright, I love you! I love you! I love you! Now get off the board, you idiot!" Siena screamed.

Mac jumped forward towards her and the final push cracked the board beneath his feet. Siena grabbed hold of his arm and tugged Mac away from the edge as the broken board shattered on the ground somewhere below. The pair collapsed and lay on top of the warm tiles, a bundle of entangled limbs, pulsing adrenaline and supernova hearts.

"Why would you do that? How could you be so stupid-" she demanded punching his chest like she used to when he teased her as a child.

Siena's rage was cut off by the grin on Mac's face. "You love me?"

She nodded, catching his contagious joy, "And you love me."

Mac watched as the momentarily forgotten grief made its way back into Siena's eyes, "Teller. He could have hurt you," she breathed.

Mac laced his fingers through her hair and pulled her face closer to his. "He didn't."

"But the family. There's no way out of this without hurting them."

"We'll figure something out, love," he whispered.

"It will kill James to betray Uncle Hale like that. And what happens to Natalie's company if we don't-"

"Siena,"

"Yeah,"

"Will you just shut up for a minute and let me kiss you?"

The tears slipped down over her lips, "Okay."

They stood outside the hotel door, pressed together.

Mac broke away from her lips long enough to breathe, "We should go inside. We should be with the crew right now."

"We should." Siena agreed before plunging back into his kiss.

He managed to pull himself away from her again to say, "To be continued?"

"Yes," she nodded and straightened her hair.

Why did she have to be so damn beautiful? Mac broke down and pulled her towards him, exploring the curves of her jaw with his lips and travelling down her neck.

"I though we'd hit pause," she laughed, head titled back.

"Pause? Never," he whispered against her skin.

As Mac kissed his way back to her lips Siena let out a sigh.

"Don't," he pleaded into her ear. "Don't think about it, just stay here with me."

"I want to forget," Siena let herself sink into him, "I want you to make me forget."

Mac wove his arms around her body and held fast, "I wish I could. But you need to know I'll be right here. No matter what, love, I will always stand with you. You understand that don't you?"

Siena's startling irises turned toward him, "I'm starting to."

A piercing ring startled the entangled pair.

"My phone," Siena started to explain but Mac had already reached into her back pocket and flipped it open, punching in the code. "Its password protected," Siena reached for the phone.

Mac's eyes came alive in that way that she loved, "Thanks, S, but I think I can spell my own name."

"How long have you known my password?" She felt her cheeks flush.

He only smiled in response.

Embarrassed Siena let her head fall back on his broad shoulder, "Its not fair that my boyfriend is a criminal mastermind."

"Boyfriend. I like the way you that sounds," Mac tried to check Siena's messages but he found her eyelashes fluttering against his skin distracting.

"That was Nat's ring tone. What'd she say?" Siena asked.

Mac tensed, "We need to get inside."

"What is it?" Siena retracted from him. Suddenly they were thieves again and Mac wasn't just her boyfriend, he was her partner in crime.

He placed the phone back in her hand and headed toward the door. Five black word felt heavy on the screen, 'Get back to base pronto'.

Mac stood in front of the door, looking over his shoulder at her.

Siena nodded and followed him inside. She was expecting a hell hole but was met with silence.

"That was fast. You weren't far?" Nat met them in the hall.

"What's happening?" Mac demanded.

Natalie's eyes flashes between the two thieves several times before she answered but if she had any inclination as to what had happened outside the hotel door she gave no sign. She only replied, "Nothing good."

James appeared in the doorway behind her, "Its Dmitri," he spoke from the darkness.

Siena inhaled sharply and was semi aware that Mac's hand had flinched toward her own.

"Always with the drama, Jay. Stop scaring them," Dmitri mocked as he pushed his way passed James into the crowded hall. "I'm alright. Everyone is alright."

"Alright is not how I would describe things." Cake's irritated tone came through Natalie's hoodie pocket. By this point the crew was used to Cake possessing their electronics but it was rare that she ever broke from her overly sweet demeanor.

"Enough of this," Mac growled, "What's happened?"

Dmitri was avoiding eye contact with Siena, "We had better move to the kitchen."

Siena swallowed back her agitation for the moment. The kitchen was a place for serious talks. Where the news of deaths and births, arrests and betrayals was delivered. It was the center of every family. And though their family may not have had a permanent kitchen, the tradition stood.

There was awkward silence as the crew shuffled into the small kitchen space. As she looked around Siena noted the shadows cast on her crew's faces from the harsh florescent lights. Every one of them was exhausted and defeated but if there was one place in which their family could ever hope to rally it had always been the kitchen.

Dmitri seemed reluctant to speak, "You all know that you mean the world to me. Hell, you are my world. More then my friends, you're my family. I couldn't live without you-"

"For once in your life would you cut the sweet talk? You can't charm your way out of this so just say it," James snapped.

Dmitri let his head hang, "I need to leave the crew. At least for the time being."

"What?" Siena croaked.

"Sis, Teller doesn't know about me. Not yet. And if I stay with the crew and the family I am practically giving myself to him."

The situation seemed to dawn on Mac then, "You're cutting your loses."

"In a matter of speaking," Dmitri admitted.

"No that's exactly what he's doing," James spat.

"I'm sorry if this upsets you but staying here would be suicide for me. If this goes south I would go down with the rest of you," he looked to his sister, "Siena? Come on, its not like you to be tongue tied, sis."

"You're my brother," her voice was barely louder then a breath.

"Yeah but Teller doesn't know that. See? That's why I still have a chance to get out of here."

"To hell with Teller, I know that you're my brother!," she screamed, "You're my brother, my freaking blood and you're abandoning me." Her anger boiled into a hateful laugh. "Typical Dmitri, when the going gets tough, the snake charmer slinks away to the shadows and leaves the rest of us rot."

"I know you're angry," he replied calmly.

"Oh, really?" she shouted, "What tipped you off?"

"I understand that you're all ticked, but there is no use to me staying here. There is nothing I can do."

Natalie waded into the conflict cautiously, "He's right. Dmitri can't help us and if he wants to go, then its up to him."

Dmitri mouthed a thanks at her but was met with a cold stare. He searched else where for support, "Cake? Thoughts?"

"Oh, you don't want to hear what I have to say, darling."

A cornered Dmitri turned back to his sister, "Please, S. Try and understand."

She had draw back within herself. Never had he seen his sister's bright eyes go so dark, "I do, Dmitri," her voice held a deadly calm, "Its what is best."

"Well I don't understand," James hissed.

"Jay-" Dmitri was about to try to reason with him but was cut off.

James shook his head in disgust, "I don't believe this. I don't believe that my best mate is capable of abandoning his family like this."

"What the hell do you want me to do?" Dmitri snapped, "What good will sacrificing myself do?"

Mac broke in, "That's not the point."

Dmitri rolled his eyes, one last attempt to play it all off lightly, "Come off it, ginger, you would do the same and you know it."

"I wouldn't leave my twin," Mac was in a deadly calm, "I would stand by my family."

"I'm sorry I can't be the saint you are, _Bagshaw_."

Then Siena standing between them, "Don't you dare throw his name back at him like that! He is as much a part of this family as you are."

"So that's it huh? You're siding with him," he jerked his chin toward Mac.

Siena straightened her spine and answered, "I am siding with my family."

"I'm your twin. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Apparently not," she spat back.

"That's enough!" James cut them off, "Dmitri's made up his mind. Its time for him to go."

"Jay?" Dmitri looked to him one last time for sympathy.

James refused to grant Dmitri his gaze, "You should head out through the service entrance so they don't see you going. Teller will have men watching us."

"Allow me to call you a cab," Cake sneered before ending the connection with a sharp click.

Dmitri was surrounded by cold stares and for once in his life he had nothing charming to say. All that was left was bitter. "So this is what you all think of me now?" Dmitri had to laugh at himself, "Why did I think any of you would understand what I'm trying to do? Not even you, Jay?" He was met with a charged silence. "Well then maybe its better this way."

Natalie shouldered his packed back, "Come on. I'll walk you out."

The pair left the enraged crew behind and walked the service corridors of the hotel in echoing silence. It wasn't until they found the service exit that Dmitri found the words.

"I know you can't, that you're just as trapped as they are, but would you hate me if I asked you to come with me?"

Natalie slipped the bag off of her shoulder and placed it in his arms like a child. "This is as far as I go."

"Can you do something for me?"

Natalie zipped up his hoodie and let her palm rest on his shoulders as she replied, "Ten minutes ago I would have done anything for you."

"Tell them I love them. Remind them of it when this is all over."

"I think they understand how much you love them, Dmitri." She began to withdraw but her caught her hand.

"Please, Natalie. Tell me you understand why I'm doing this." There was that familiar Dmitri spark in his eye but the flame had changed. It no longer burned bright. He was desperate now. Starved for the oxygen only his crew could provide. There was something in his eyes he was desperately trying to tell her. That starved flame beat wildly against the gazed wall of his eyes but it couldn't touch her.

Natalie's eyes fell to their sneakers, "I understand, Dmitri. It's the smart choice. But its not the one I would have made."

He tried once more, before she silenced him, "Nat, I'm not re-"

"Stay safe, Dmitri." She pulled the hood over his head and left him with one last affectionate kiss lingering on his cold cheek as he ventured out into the midnight alleyway.

**Yup. So thats happening. We won't be hearing from Dmitri for a while but fear not readers for I shall make it up to you ;) just trust me on this. Thanks for reading and leave me a review so I can adore you forever! -George&amp;Eckels **


	11. Father Christmas is the Devil

**Thanks you such much for the reviews :D Keep 'em coming! This chapter is just some in-between stuff but I hope you enjoy anyways...**

"I am not asking much," Teller assured them, "Believe me children there are things far worse then espionage. I'll never understand why your generation always makes such a fuss over simple tasks. "

The jolly man stood behind his desk. His protruding belly hanging over the table, giggled when he chuckled like some sort of perverse Father Christmas. Natalie was disgusted. How had she failed to notice throughout her childhood just how revolting her elders were? Yet there the crew sat, pinned to their seats by the looming threat of exposure.

"You are asking us to betray a member of our family," James said through his teeth. Mr. Teller had summoned the crew to his New York office under the pretense of giving them the details of their 'assignment', as the fat man liked to refer to it, but thus far had spent ten minutes chastising them for their ingratitude for his 'immense kindness' towards them.

The evil Santa Claus shook with laughter, "Come now children, Mr. Hale is not really your family, now is he? No blood ties. No shared family tree. But you still call him Uncle. Curious that."

Natalie had had enough, "Mr. Teller, you told Mac that you intend to force this crew to topple Hale Industries. Correct? Or do you just intend on subjecting us to your gloating?"

He turned an amused eye toward the young woman, "Just like your father, Miss West, straight down to business. I've always admired your family's determination. Well, then I will 'get on with it', as they say. I am not, in fact, asking you to topple a multi-billion dollar company. That is far too much responsibility for a group of children. No, no, my dear, I am only asking you to provide me with the tools to do so. All I require from you," he motioned to the group, "is a little bit of information. Something that will allow me to cut Hale Industries off at the knees," he tapped his belly with his stout fingers as he smiled gleefully down on them. It was clear their discomfort brought him immense joy and entertainment.

"But we don't know anything about the company," Siena protested, "Not anything that could be of value to you."

"Of course you don't," he exclaimed, "Mr. Hale is no fool. He would not go divulging the secrets of his company willy nillly. No, you'll need to infiltrate the company for that."

"As you say, sir," James cut in, "Our Uncle is no fool. He will know when he is being conned for information."

"Yes, yes, I know. That is why I have hired you, Mr. Bishop. They say you are almost as skilled as your mother," Teller chattered. "Imagine how proud she will be when your little 'crew' manages to con Mr. Hale out of his company."

"Aunt Kat has very powerful connections," Siena fired back, "She will come after your company if you hurt our family."

"I don't doubt it, my dear. No, that I dare not doubt. But there is the small matter that I know all there is to know about your 'family'. Which is why, unless you would like to be responsible for the imprisonment of all your loved ones, you will have to abide by my rules. And rule number one, Miss Antokov, is that no member of your family outside of this room will know about this. Excluding you little hacker friend of course. I've had to cut her out of this conversation to insure she does not try anything foolish, like recording me." Mr. Teller hobbles around the desk until he stood over Siena's seated figure. Siena flinched as he pointed one pudgy finger at her crescent moon necklace.

"Ah, the symbol of Islam. A gift from your father, no doubt. He is Egyptian, correct? But you wouldn't remember him, would you?" Teller met her startled expression with a child-like grin.

"As I've said Miss Antokov, I know all about your family's interesting history. Including the fact that your mother stole you away from your father's love when you were just an infant. Just as well, my dear. You never could have had a healthy upbringing with a father like that. Although, why do I prattle on like this when you have no idea what I am speaking of."

"That's enough," James tried to cut in but Teller ignored him.

"You don't even know his name, do you, my dear? Funny, isn't it, how we cherish the memory of those we never really knew?" he smiled down on Siena as if she were a misguided child and clicked in disapproval. "But clearly your mother could not erase him entirely. That skin. A shame. You really are very pretty, my dear. But it is a shame you have such an unfortunate parentage."

"Shut up!" Mac barked, "Just shut up you racist bastard! You wanted us here. We came. Now get on with it."

Teller waved him off as he made his way back around the desk, "Mr. Bishop, please try to contain your Irish attack dog. We all want this meeting to remain civilized," he let his enormous frame fall back into the large chair behind the desk and rubbed his hand together. "Now as I was saying, you will need to infiltrate Hale Industries. With your fortunate connections this shouldn't take you long, but to provide some motivation, lets say I give your crew a month to retrieve sufficient intelligence to fatally wound the company. Yes, that sounds more then fair."

"A month is not enough time for what you are asking," James interjected.

Mr. Teller waged a finger at him, "No, my boy, what you mean is that a month is not enough time to wiggle your way out of this. However a month is more then sufficient for gathering information."

Natalie moved to protest, but Teller cut her off, "I should warn you, children, that you will be constantly watched. If you attempt to warn your family or devise some plan to evade the consequences of breaking our deal I will know. Rest assured, I always know when I am being cheated. Understood?"

Natalie's eyes narrowed, and she did her best impression of a cool business woman, "Perfectly, Mr. Teller."

The plump man clapped his hands together, making the tense crew jump, "Excellent! Just wonderful that we all understand one another! I will expect results from you a month from today. If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to contact me, through the appropriate discreet channels of course. I would love to stay and chat but I promised my nieces I would treat them to brunch. They're such delightful girls, even after losing their mother. I couldn't stand to disappoint them so I really must go. My guards will see you out the back."

Mr. William Teller waddled quickly out of the office, leaving the stunned and distraught teenagers to be ushered out the back by his fierce looking staff. When the alley door slammed behind them and the crew was finally alone an enraged Siena turned to James, "Please tell me you have a way out of this that involves leaving that man stranded in the Sahara Desert."

But James didn't answer. He only slid his arms into his coat and starred out at the cloud of smog. Instead Natalie took charge. She linked her arm through Siena's, "Come one. Lets get out of here before one of us gets another homicidal urge. We've got work to do."

Natalie was tired of the depression, the lies, and the desperation. She wanted nothing more then to be a teenage girl again, even if only for a few moments. Once the bedroom door of the Brooklyn Brownstone shut behind then Natalie spun on Siena with a raised brow, "Okay. You. Mac. Googlie eyes. Start talking, Antokov."

Her best friend was more then willing to oblige her regular teenage girl fantasy, "Uh, yeah," Siena blushed as she stumbled over the words, "so I was on the roof of the hotel in London and he sort of came up to find me and-"

"Yes! I knew it!" Cake cheered from Siena's discarded phone, "You owe me 20 euro, Heiress."

"Damn it. I bet you two were going to get together in a high speed car chase. She bet the roof. Always letting me down, S." Natalie playfully poked Siena's ribs.

Siena rolled her eyes, "Betting? Isn't that a little bit beneath us?"

"Says the girl who recently scored 30,000 in Monte Carlo," Cake chirped. The crew had filled her in on their meeting with Teller on the way home.

"Counting cards isn't betting," Siena shrugged, "And I don't know, Mac and I just sort of happened."

"Years in the making, and months of insufferable flirtation and tension is not what I call 'just happened'," Cake answered.

"Are you going to tell James?" Natalie asked.

"He might have already figured it out," Cake input.

"He hasn't. He would have said something to me about it." Natalie responded.

"I don't want to bother him with it. Jay already has a lot on his mind and I doubt he would be as thrilled with it as you two are," Siena brushed the idea away. "I think it's best if we just keep things as normal as possible."

"He'll be happy for you guys. I'm positive of it." Natalie assured her.

She nodded thoughtfully, "I know, its just more for him to worry about. James has never handled relationship changes well. They freak him out."

"Yeah, I've picked up on that. He's not exactly fond of Eric," Natalie flopped back onto her bed.

Siena clicked her teeth, "Don't try and pretend likes it's the same thing. Besides we've got enough to focus on right now with Teller."

"Don't you mean the demon from hell," Cake quipped, "Did he really bring up your father?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Siena distracted herself by running a comb through her natted hair.

"James was developing a plan the last time I talked to him," Natalie began to rifle through her bags, looking for shampoo.

Siena's phone chirped. "Speak of the devil", Cake muttered as she hacked her way deeper into Siena's phone, "James just texted you to meet downstairs in forty for a planning session."

"Perfect," Natalie disappeared for a moment into the bathroom, "That's just enough time to scrub away all traces of that disgusting man."

"We'll have an in depth debrief about you and Mac tonight, but for now Jay wants me to pull up specs. on Hale Industries business model. Over and out, my darlings." With a click Cake was gone.

When Natalie reappeared from the bathroom to grab a fresh change of clothes she noticed Siena frozen in place, cradling the hairbrush like an injured bird. She didn't seem to know what to do with herself but the darkness under her eyes demanded sleep.

Natalie gently removed the hairbrush from Siena's grip, "Why don't you take a nap? You haven't really slept since they grabbed Mac."

"Uh, yeah, I'll do that," Siena nodded absent mindedly.

Natalie reluctantly left the dazed girl to sort herself out but was drawn back into the room when Siena called, "Hey, Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Teller will find out about him? Dmitri, I mean."

Natalie gave a smile that was half encouraging and half utterly heart broken, "No. I think Dmitri is too smart to get caught. And he wouldn't risk our necks or his own by being careless."

Siena sounded like a child when she asked, "He'll come back, won't he? When this is over."

"I think that depends on if you want him to," she replied.

Siena pulled at the threads of the old duvet she had collapsed on and considered what Natalie had said.

Nat had no way to make her friend whole again. She knew she could never be a replacement for her twin and now that Mac had claimed his place as the other half of Siena's heart Natalie was left to wonder if she was still had any claim to the title of best friend. Watching the shell of a girl drift off to sleep Natalie had to question whether she was losing Siena Antokov before she had ever got the chance to really know her.

"Get some sleep," Natalie urged, "I'll wake you when its time."

Natalie was drying her hair with a towel as she rounded the corner into the Brownstone's kitchen. The place was eerily quiet as Kat's crew were working on a heist in Nepal and the children had been safely stowed away with their Uncle Simon in Istanbul. The house was all but empty expect for the crew and yet the air had never felt heavier.

"I know that face. You've got a plan," Natalie had found James bent over the kitchen table examining documents with the familiar crease in his forehead.

"You're not going to like it," James warned her.

"I don't like anything about this, but it has to be done."

"That's what I keep telling myself," James shook his head, "I just feel like we've given up too easily. If we don't even try to defy Teller then how can we claim we were forced to do it?"

Mac chose that moment to ride into the kitchen, "I would abandon any plans of revolt you're working up, mate. Teller's made good on his threat. There's a pair of suits sitting in a Range Rover across the street. I wasn't sure before when I saw them on the way back from Teller Inc. but I'm sure now. They followed us here."

"Aunt Kat is going to be ticked when we tell her the Brownstone's been compromised," Siena descended the stairs, eyes still heavy from sleep.

"We need to remember that this is not the first threat to the family. And it won't be the last. Its just part of the profession," James stated. Natalie wasn't sure if he was reassuring them or himself.

"Coffee anyone?" Nat asked, "We should get down to it. We've only got a month from today."

No one was in the mood for coffee. The last thing they needed was yet another reason to lose sleep. Teller was threatening them. Dmitri had abandoned them. They were isolated from their family and were about to destroy it entire. The crew had never considered it possible to be standing in their own home, the center of their family, and still feel so utterly alone.

James took his place as the table, "As cruel and horrendous as this all seems, its come at a good time for us. Siena, a few days ago you mentioned that Uncle Hale offered you an intern position in the company, right? As his second hand?"

She nodded but she didn't like where this was going, "Yeah. I turned him down though. Said I wanted to stay with my crew."

"But the offer stands?"

"As far as I know," Siena replied. "You want me to take the job, don't you?"

James was somber, "Yes. I need you to."

Mac intervened, "Hold on. Is there really no way that we can do this without Uncle Hale knowing we were involved? We could call in a favour and have Black and his boys be the front men for this."

"No outside help, remember?" Natalie spoke up.

"Besides," James continued, "Black is too smart to cross someone as good as Uncle Hale. He may be slime but he's not stupid. And Cake assures me that Hale Industries is too watertight for an insider to get into its systems. Which means we need an inside man. Or, rather, an inside-woman," James looked to Siena.

"Jay, I've never done a long con before," Siena protested in a low voice.

"I know. I also know that you can handle it."

"This isn't the time to be mucking around with new positions, Jay. If Uncle Hale suspects the entire thing is shot," Mac input.

"Exactly. That's why Siena is the one for the con. He offered her the job, not you, not me or Nat. If any of us showed up asking for employment it would look out of place. He also knows Siena isn't a con artist, so he'd be less likely to think that she could ever, well-"

"Con him? Betray him?" Siena offered bitterly, "What if I can't do that, Jay?"

"S, I'm sorry, okay. I don't want to but I am asking you to do this. I need you to do this, for the family," James was insistent.

Siena looked as though she might cry.

"Hold on, now,-" Mac intervened.

"No," Siena swallowed back the tears, "Jay's right. It's got to be me. I'll do it."

Mac turned to her and in hushed tones tried to get through to her, "S, you don't have to do this. We'll find another way."

She stopped him, "There's no time, Mac. It's alright. If James thinks I can pull this off then I'll do it."

"I know you will," Jay nodded with confidence.

Natalie reached for Siena's hand, "We'll be right there with you, S, in your ear. You won't be alone."

They hadn't been aware that Cake was listening but she chimed in to comfort Siena, "I've seen you work, darling. You're more then capable. And what other con artist can go in a job knowing they have the amazing yours-truly on their side?"

Siena studied her folded hands as she held fast to Natalie's. Her voice came out soft, "This is going to break his heart, isn't it?"

No could bear to answer.

"Alright," Siena looked up with a new resolve in her eyes, "Okay, lets do this."

James slid a cell phone toward her, "Make the call."

There was absolute silence as Siena's shaking hands punched in the number and the ringtone echoed throughout the kitchen.

When the ringing halted and a voice came over the phone Natalie was surprised by Siena's solid and unwavering tone, "Uncle Hale? It's Siena. About that job offer-"

**And so it begins. Leave me a review (good or bad) and let me know what you're thinking. As always, thanks for reading. -George&amp;Eckels **


	12. Get to Work

**Sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes in this one. I haven't got much time to look it over but I thought it was best just to get it posted. Not the most exciting chapter but something we just have to get for reading and don't forget to review. **

Clandestine calls from service closets are cliché. But for Siena Antokov they were also a regular occurrence. There were few places in Hale Industries that remained hidden from the excessive number of security cameras positioned in every corner, hallway, entrance and exit of the building. In between delegating all tasks to the interns and sneering at the advances of Rick from Human Resources, the board members' secretaries held court in the bathroom on the 14th floor. It was there that they satiated their bored minds with their break time espionage, though after infiltrating their circle Siena discovered they knew nothing of real importance to the company.

With the bathrooms all occupied by the secretaries and their spies the only remaining safe haven was the service closet on the 26th floor. Thieving was not all stealing Ferraris and parachuting onto the roof of the Louvre. Sometimes a thief had to do what was necessary to get the job done. At that moment, what was necessary was for Siena to hide out in a damp, dark room.

"This is ridiculous! It's been six days and I haven't gotten a thing out of this. They still have me making photocopies with the interns," Siena flipped over a bucket and sat down to rest her swollen feet. Infiltration meant camouflage and camouflage meant high heels.

"Did you get anything out of the secretaries?" James asked. The rest of the crew was gathered around the phone in the kitchen of the brownstone.

"Nothing useful. Not unless you're interested that TV show 'Bachelor'."

"Its 'The Bachelor', darling," Cake corrected, "And you should keep trying with secretaries. They'll know more then they let on."

"That's just it though. They do know more then they'll say. I've overheard them talking. They know who Uncle Hale has dated, what sort of car he drives, what he got his mother for mother's day but nothing about the company itself."

"Okay, it may be a dead end but keep pushing it just incase," James said, "In the mean time we need a new strategy. It was stupid to assume that he would divulge everything to you as soon as you took the job."

Mac turned to Natalie, "Care to give us a business perspective?"

Natalie chewed at the inside of her lip as she considered what she knew of CEOs. It struck her that this should be easier for her, considering she herself was now the leader of a fortune 500 company, "Its not unusual that the heads of companies keep things under wraps, but its not as if Hale is on an island. He would have to share things with the board. But then again he's not just a regular CEO, he was once one of the best con artists in the business."

"You said earlier that every company like this one has dirty laundry, right?" Siena asked.

"Without exception," Natalie confirmed.

"So where does West Inc. hides its skeletons? It might give us a hint as to where Uncle Hale stashes his," Siena suggested.

"As far as I know Mr. Kalt's, one of our board members, lawyers are responsible for burring ours in piles of legal documents," Natalie answered, "It doesn't matter how tight lipped Hale keeps his company, there should be a legal paper trail that incriminates every member of the board. That's how you kept them in check. Tie everyone to the mast to ensure the best chances of keeping the ship afloat."

"I've been through every document Siena could get her hands on," Cake added, "I couldn't find a single incriminating thing. And I've combed through the entire digital system, every cyber corner of it, and nothing's come up. I'm sorry to say it my darlings but if I can't find it, it may not exist."

James ran his hand through the tips of his hair like he always did when mulling something over in his mind, "I don't know maybe Cake's right. Maybe there is nothing for us to find."

Natalie leaned towards him, "Jay, I know you want to believe your uncle runs a good operation, but I am telling you, no company is this squeaky clean," she insisted.

"She's right, Jay." Mac spoke up, "His relationship to our family, this entire situation, is proof that Uncle Hale has something to hide. We all want to be able to turn around and tell Teller that there is nothing to be found but he knows the business world as well as Nat does. He won't believe us."

James gave in, "Okay, alright, so we keep looking."

"I'll keep trying but I'm telling you guys I've exhausted all the leads in the office and I can't exactly get to the board members," Siena was clearly frustrated.

"We'll figure something out, lov – I mean, Siena." Mac stumbled over his words but James was too preoccupied to notice. Natalie however raised a brow as the colour of Mac's cheeks rose to match that of his hair.

"She needs to get closer to Hale," James announced.

"Easier said then done," Siena answered, "He's barely talked to me since I got here. At the most he nods at me in the hallway. I don't know why, something, about not showing favoritism maybe."

"I don't see the point in that," Cake critiqued, "Everyone there already knows you're being groomed to take his place."

"Cake's right. I've been sitting in on board meetings since I was nine. If he is serious about making you his heir it doesn't make sense that he would put off your training, especially considering you didn't exactly grow up in the business world," Natalie added.

"Maybe he thinks she's the one that's not serious," James proposed.

"How so?" Siena frowned.

"It is a little far fetched that you would abandon your crew like that," Jay provided.

"Not that far fetched," Siena spat, obviously thinking of Dmitri.

The air took on a bad taste as the crew tried to suppress the thought of Dmitri's betrayal once again.

"We can't get into that right now. We need to focus," James pushed aside the bitter feelings, "Think about it. Why would Hale trust you if he doesn't know you're committed? And why would you be? You've been a thief all your life. Something would have had to happen to make you reconsider your life like this."

Natalie nodded in agreement, "She needs a motive. Something big enough that he would believe it would change her mind."

"Maybe she just wanted a normal life?" Mac offered.

"Not deep enough," James shook his head.

"Post traumatic stress?" Natalie suggested, "We've been in a lot of stressful situations. Maybe it became too much for her to handle and her panic attacks and episodes were endangering the crew while on heists."

"I don't know if I could pull off mentally disturbed," Siena cut in. "I've never been a very good actress."

"We'll keep brainstorming but you need to get back to work, Siena. Your supervisor will be looking for you. Cake have you finished with those files?"

While Siena was focused on extracting information from every possible human source, Cake had been doing Siena's work for her. In fact she had been doing the work faster then all the other interns combined. "Finished them an hour ago. I've sent them to the printer on that floor, Siena, along with some extra work that might help to butter up your supervisors."

"Thanks, Cake. I wish you were the one doing all of this, you're a natural," Siena hung up the phone and switched to the comms. unit in her ear.

Cake laughed, "Pffs, no, I'm just- well, who are we kidding, I am pretty amazing."

Siena reached for the door handle, "Alright, I'm heading out again. Wish me luck."

"No need. You're doing great, S," Natalie assured her.

A startled sound came through the radio.

"Siena?" Mac called, worried, "Siena what is it? What's wrong?"

Cake answered for her, bringing up footage from the security cameras, "Its Hale. He's just down the hall from her."

"Did he see her leave the closet?" James tensed.

"No, I checked the coast was clear before she left," Cake responded.

The crew watched as Siena strode down the hall towards the cluster of men in thousand dollar suits.

"What is she doing?," James demanded, "Siena, what are you doing?"

"This is the first time I've seen him in days. I may not get another chance to talk to him for weeks," she whispered.

"But we haven't come up with a motive for you yet," Natalie protested.

"Then talk me through it," Siena hissed before plastering on a wide smile and calling out, "Uncle Hale!"

The group of men turned towards her, startled that an intern would have the gall to flag down the CEO. Hale himself seemed surprised, though he covered it well.

She clicked confidently toward him in her stilettos, "I haven't had the chance to thank you for the job opportunity yet. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Mr. Hale the 5th is a very busy man, Miss," one of the board members present tried to dismiss her, "You can't expect him to-"

"I'm never to busy for my favourite niece," Hale smiled at her uncharacteristic boldness, "Gentlemen, this is Siena Antokov. She is one of our new interns. If you'll excuse us," Hale swept his arm out in a motion that made it clear he would like the men to continue on without him.

Once the suits had reluctantly waddled down the hall Hale broke down into his signature grin that made Siena think of those long summer night car rides of her childhood. Sometimes when the night was too humid to sleep in the city Hale would take the children out onto deserted stretches of highway and roll back the hood of his vintage convertible so they could feel the wind rushing past their adoring faces as he raced down the roads at 200 km per hour.

Siena thought she might burst into tears were it not for James' voice in her ear, "You've got this, S. We're right here with you."

"Come with me, there's something I've been meaning to show you," Hale placed a warm hand on her back and led Siena through the maze of offices to the 74th floor, and into his vast office.

Hale nodded toward the window, "Go ahead, pull back the blinds."

Siena couldn't help but smile as the blinds revealed a stunning view of New York city.

Hale watched her face as she took it the view, "Do you remember what you said when I asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up? All the boys said a thief, but not you."

Siena's lips settled into a sad smile, " A bird. I wanted to be a bird."

Hale nodded as he joined her at the window, "A hawk to be specific."

She laughed to herself, "They teased me about that for weeks. Dmitri and Mac would hide around corners and squawk at me until I chased them. They even got James doing it."

James turned to Mac, confused, "Why don't I remember this?"

Mac shrugged, "You were only three."

"The point is you were always a little different," Hale continued, "Sometimes I worried you were only becoming a thief because it was the family business."

"There. Right there. He's giving you a motive for leaving the crew. Run with it," James advised.

Hale carried on, "But then I saw you grow into the roll and I thought I was wrong. Yet here you are."

Siena pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and avoided eye contact, "Yup. Here I am."

"How did they take it when you told them your were leaving the crew?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess. Natalie was understanding but the boys seemed a little hurt."

Hale sighed and put his hands in his pockets, "Siena, I need to know that you're committed to this path. This company is more then just a cover. It will be the center of your world. I know it may seem like the right choice, but it isn't easy to separate yourself from the world of thieves. There will always be a part of you that misses it."

"Do you miss it?" Siena turned to face him.

"Not so much the heists. But the family," Hale met her gaze, "Everyday."

"You never lost the family," Siena assured him.

"And neither will you," he replied, "but the separation is harder then it seems. I want you to understand what you're getting into."

"I do," Siena nodded vigorously, "I'm committed to this. I promise you."

Maybe he saw the heartbreak in her lying eyes, or maybe he didn't, but Hale eyed her for a moment longer before disappearing back to his desk. "Why did you leave the crew, Siena? Honestly."

"Stall, S, we'll come up with something," Natalie spoke into the microphone in James' hand.

"James." Siena said aloud.

"What did she say?" James looked at the others for confirmation.

"James? What about him?" Hale asked.

"I left because of James," Siena clarified.

"Anyone know where she is going with this?" Cake asked. It was a rare occasion when Cake was as confused as the rest of them.

Siena pushed her hair back to give herself a minute to think before speaking again, "I think I finally understand why you couldn't be in the crew anymore. Why you pulled back."

Hale coughed, "Well, you'll find running a company takes up a lot of time-"

"I'm not talking about the bullsh*t reason you give everyone else, Uncle Hale. I'm talking about Aunt Kat."

Hale froze for a second before catching his cool again but that instant of hesitation told the crew Siena had struck a cord, "I don't understand-"

She ignored his denial, "Sometimes it becomes impossible to stand back and watch the one person you love more then life itself become obsessed with something that just might get them killed. And all the while knowing that it was you that supported their crazy heists and suicidal missions. I went along with it because I thought maybe, just maybe, one day he could love me as much as he loves his heists," Siena looked out over the city, as if she had lost herself in her pain.

"James?" Hale gazed at the young woman as if she were changed in his eyes.

"Of course, its Jay. It's always been him," her laugh was bitter.

Hale leaned against the wall as he considered this confession, "And does he-"

"Feel the same? Would I be here if he did?"

Hale rocked on his feet, clearly uncomfortable, "Your Aunt Kat seemed to think he might care for Natalie West."

"Jay cares about Natalie like he cares about everyone else in the crew, the difference is he is obsessed with her. Well, not her necessarily, but how she pushes him."

Natalie was afraid to move, lest it attract the boys attention and she make eye contact with either of them. Siena was really digging deep for this cover. And not every hole can be filled again.

Hale nodded in understanding, "She enables his obsession. That's a dangerous relationship. I've seen the type before. James was always so much like his mother, I should have seen that coming."

"She's using his past against him," James realized aloud, "That's- that's"

"Brilliant." Mac finished.

Siena folded her arms against her chest, "I know I'm running away from my problem, but, well you did the same thing and-"

Hale put a hand up to cut her off, "You don't have to explain, Siena. I understand."

Siena turned her large, green eyes up at him, "Does it get easier?"

"You'll never cease to love him. But you'll learn to live with the pain."

"How?"

"Distract yourself. You start tomorrow at 8 am sharp. Come to my office. You'll be shadowing me. You work until you forget how to do anything but else."

"Then what?" She asked innocently.

"Then you start to build a life of your own. Where are you staying?"

"At the brownstone, why?"

"You'll want a place where you won't have to be confronted with the memories. I'll have one of my people rent you a place on the upper east side. They'll find an apartment not far from mine. If you need anything just come by my place, got it?" Hale checked his watch, "Damn it, I have a meeting in five. But if you need to talk or just a place to get out of the fray you can come here, alright?"

Siena nodded.

"And start brainstorming some ideas for the board. They'll want to know you're serious about running this company some day and that you're capable."

"Okay," Siena sniffled.

"Hey," Hale brushed away a tear from her cheek, "You'll be alright. I promise."

As he headed toward the door Siena almost broke, "Uncle Hale," she called.

"Yes?" Hale looked back over his shoulder.

"Thank you," Siena tried her best to smile.

The crew had to wait several more hours before Siena got off work to discuss the day's events. Three young thieves sat in the back corner of a terrible Italian restaurant in a forgotten corner of Manhattan. This place also happened to be their favourite Italian restaurant as there was almost never any other customers beside themselves. Perfect for discussions

Siena stormed in through the door and passed the napping waitress to take her place at the table. Everyone ignored the vacant fifth chair in the corner.

"That was … " James struggled for the words, "…effective."

Siena threw off her coat, "It was cruel. That's what that was. Cruel. What is he going to think of me when he finds out I used his relationship with Aunt Kat against him? He'll hate me."

"He won't hate you, Siena," Natalie squeezed her shoulder for support, "Okay maybe he'll hate you for a little while, but in a few decades he'll realize how brilliant of a move it was and he just might appreciate the fact that you've grown into a skilled and quick thinking con artist."

"That is if he doesn't murder us all before then," Siena shot back.

"I won't let him," Mac promised.

"Right, we need to focus on the positive," James tried to steer the conversation, "Now that you're shadowing Hale you'll have constant access to his office. Siena, I want you to scour the place top to bottom. If there are hidden files we need to know about them. In the mean time, Cake are you there?" James placed his phone on the table.

"Always, darling." Cake chimed.

"Good, Cake, Siena's going to be taking in a lot more work, are you up for the task," James asked.

"Pfft, do you really need to ask?"

James chuckled, "Just checking."

"Cake," Natalie cut in, "Hale mentioned that Siena will have to prove herself to the board. I think that might be the key to getting her firmly through the door. Got any ideas?"

"As a matter of fact, honey, I've been going over some of the product plans stored in Hale Industries files and I think some of these would fit right into the Chinese market."

"Expansion into the Chinese market?" Mac raised his brows, "That's bound to turn some heads."

"Think you can pull something together?" James called into the speaker.

Cake looked at her computer clock and sighed inwardly, "Sure, why not?"

"You're the best, Cake." Siena's voice came over the speaker.

"Don't I know it," Cake tried to sound upbeat, "You kids enjoy your meal, the adults have some work to do. I'll text you when its ready, Jay." Cake ended the connection without bothering to hear their goodbyes.

She sighed audibly this time, "Sure, I'll just slapped together a company wide expansion into a foreign market, its not like its 3 am or anything. Oh, would you look at that! It is 3 am."

The hacker's rant was cut off by a sound from the garden. She knew Teller out front had paid off the guards but she didn't think they would be so foolish as to try an break inside. For the past week the little sleep she managed had been plagued by dreams of this moment, when a silent order would be given to end her life. It would be the perfect motivation for the crew, a reminder of what the cost was if they betrayed him. Kill off one of the members so the other would know he meant business. Its exactly what Cake herself would do. She was, after all, the perfect target. Practically a sitting duck.

The small girl slipped off her stilettos and reached for the gun taped to the back of her external hard drive. Kai Collins was not going down without a fight. She fully intended to chip a nail before she let one of these goons take her out.

Another crunching sound came from the green house as someone made their way across the gravel path, toward the open French doors.

Cake stood her ground and raised the gun to eye level. She briefly considered what he might do if she lost. Would she shoot herself to avoid whatever torture they might inflict before slaughtering her themselves?

As her racing heart rose up through her throat, the young woman thought back to all those childhood movies and all her favourite myths. She always seemed to think that if she died young, she would go out like a hero. In a glorious moment of triumph, winning the battle with the last blow of her sword, and speaking wisdom to her loved ones with that dying breath. But in that moment, standing with her bare feet planted on the cold floors, gun pointed into the darkness, she came to realize that between all her heroines, and idols and comic characters not one of them had ever died alone.

But there Cake was standing off against shadows, cold, afraid, and worst of all, alone.

The intruder no longer tried to hide their footsteps as they stepped into the doorway, nothing but a silhouette against the moonlight.

Cake let her shoulders slump and clicked the safety on before tossing the gun onto the couch. With an exasperated sigh her called out, "Must you always be so dramatic?"

"I need your help," the silhouette replied.

"I figured as much," Cake turned back to her computer, "Come inside, darling, and close the doors behind you. We've got work to do."

**Don't forget to leave me a review good, bad or otherwise. :) Thanks for reading- George&amp;Eckels**


	13. Wilson

**Explanation as to where I have been at the bottom, I won't blame you if you don't bother to read it. But first, what you have been patiently waiting for...**

London's most infamous heiress of the moment dashed up the steps to her Kensington home and bounced on the soles of her feet as she fished around the bottom of her bag for a house key. The door swung open before her to reveal a surprised housemaid. Mia smiled at a disheveled Natalie, "Good, you're home. I was just about to head out to do the shopping. You've been working so hard lately, I was wondering if you wanted me to pick you up something special or- What's going on? Why are you out of breath?" Mia demanded as Natalie lunged past her through the doorway, kicked off her flats and bounded down the hall.

"Sorry, Mia, can't talk! I have a Skype meeting."

"Oh?" she puffed, "I didn't see it on your schedule."

"Not for the company," Natalie called back.

"Of course not," Mia grumbled, "Because that would be sensible and responsible."

"I heard that!" Nat shot back as she disappeared into her bedroom.

After plopping her schoolbag down on the bed, she scoured her closet floor for a clean jumper and her favourite plaid pj bottoms, the ones Catherine Bagshaw had given the crew for Christmas.

Natalie sneered at the latest newspaper titles while she waited for her laptop to boot up. Mia had taken to laying out any articles concerning the Wests or the company on Natalie's desk each morning. Mia seemed to think she was helping, so Natalie didn't have the heart to tell her that it was really only a depressing reminder of how miserable she was at running the company. Something the media had not failed to notice.

The laptop chimed as it formed its connection to Cake's network, "Has she started yet?" Natalie panted as she flopped down on the floor in front of the dark screen.

"No, we're just waiting for the board members to file in. How did it go this morning?" James was inquiring about the outcome of Natalie's West. Inc. meeting that morning.

"Just great!" Natalie replied sarcastically, "I love being chewed out by a bunch of stiffs in suits for not 'meeting expectations'."

Nat had returned to London to attend board meetings of her own. Crisis or no crisis, Natalie was still the CEO. She had more then fifty thousand employees under her family's company. 50,374 to be exact. It was a number that circled her mind day and night. The company was her responsibility, her burden to bear and at the moment Natalie was failing miserably.

"If you've got things to do, you don't have to watch. Siena will understand," Mac commented.

"Nonsense. I can multitask," Natalie retrieved the piles of unsigned forms from her desk and settled in to watch Siena's presentation to the top executives at Hale Industries.

"Anything we can do to help?" Mac offered.

"Not unless you can forge my signature." Natalie joked but when she was met with silence her face settled into a frown, "Wait, can either of you-You know what, never mind, this is one of those things I just don't want to know."

"I'll add it to the list," Natalie could hear the smirk in James voice. "Are you sure we can't help?"

"Well, Cake, if its not too much trouble I would love your opinion on the stocks-"

"You're talking to dead air, Nat. Cake's not listening." Mac cut her off.

That was unusual. "Where is she?"

James answered, "Busy, apparently. Said she needed to take care of some things. Mac's running the tech."

Natalie's chewed on her pen, "It's not like her to be unreachable. Did she sound alright?"

"Not sure. It was Siena who spent all of last night going over her presentation with her," Jay replied.

Natalie could hear Mac fiddling with the electronics in the back round, cursing under his breath. "Is Mac going to be alright with the tech?"

"He'll be fine," James lowered his voice, "But I'm not certain the tech will make it through."

Natalie's chuckle rolled over the radio waves.

James felt his lips turn into an involuntary smile. "That's a sound I haven't heard in a while."

"Well, there isn't exactly a whole lot to laugh about right now," she sighed, "I should be there."

"You're exactly where you need to be," Jay assured her.

She ran a hand through her messy locks, "Then why does it feel like I'm not where I should be?"

"It's starting," Mac announced in the background.

"Can she hear us?" Natalie asked of the boys in a hushed tone.

"No," James was the one that answered, "She'll need to concentrate. If Siena thinks she may need outside support she'll activate her comms unit. For now the best we can do is sit an watch. Mac says the visual should be coming up on your screen now."

Natalie turned away from her abundant pile of documents to watch a dozen men file into the Hale Industries boardroom. Siena stood at the center of it all. In her perfectly tailored pencil skirt and blazer, with delicate hands folded in front of her poised frame, she appeared a natural businesswoman. It took the eyes of a best friend to see through the tweed-stitched façade.

"She looks nervous," Natalie worried.

"I've seen her rehearse this a dozen times. She's got it down," James nodded to himself, "She's got this."

Siena's voice was thick and sweet as it flowed over their speakers, "Now that everyone is here, shall we start? I know you are not accustomed to having your weekly meetings hijacked by your interns but I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to want to hear this."

* 2 Hours Later *

The boardroom broke into applause.

"And she sticks the landing, ladies and gentlemen," the pride was evident in Cake's voice.

"Hey, Kai, how long have you been listening for?" Natalie asked over the airwaves.

"Long enough to know that my young padawan just slayed that presentation."

James spoke over a crackle, "She's turning her com. unit on. Nicely done, S."

James' praise was echoed by that of Hale, "Very impressive presentation, Siena. That's all that is on the agenda for this meeting but I am sure Miss Antokov has given us all lots to think over. We will discuss the proposal in our next board meeting but I know you all have other matters to attend to at the moment so we will let you go." There was stiff cough from the other end of the boardroom, "Right, sorry Roger. One last note, Mr. Rowland has asked me to remind you all that expense reports for your respective departments should be in by the end of the week. Lets not draw this out like last quarter. And if no one had anything else to say, then I think we are done here."

The executives shuffled slowly from the room like a large herd of cats, pausing to congratulate the young intern on her clear business prowess and to express their eagerness to work with her in the future.

"Don't let it go to your head," Hale whispered in her ear, "Only half of them mean it, the other half are only hedging their bets incase you make it to CEO one day. Follow me," Hale led the way from the crowded room.

"Which half is which?" Siena asked.

"It changes with the day," Hale threw a mischievous smile over his shoulder at her. With a nod at his secretary, Hale held the door to his office open for Siena and then ensured it was closed behind them.

"So, how did it feel being up their with the big boys?"

Siena released a pent up nervous laugh, "It felt like they could see right through me. Sort of like I was made. How do you keep it hidden? Your past. It must weigh on you," It frightened her that she was becoming comfortable with her role in Hale Industries.

Hale tucked his hands into the pockets of his ten thousand dollar suit and shrugged, "The same why everyone does, I suppose. By keeping my mouth shut. Rule number one of keeping any secret, keep your head about you. That means no drinking, no drugs, nothing that could loosen your lips."

Siena snorted, "Those poor secretaries."

Hale raised a quizzical brow at her jest.

She elaborated, "The secretaries have a running bet with the IT department to see if they can get you drunk enough to kiss one of your staff at the office Christmas party."

Hale rolled his eyes, "Note to self: Increase the work load of all assistants. They are clearly bored."

"Don't let him get off topic," James advised through the earpiece, "Press him, you might get somewhere with this."

"But seriously, Uncle Hale, we both know every thief leaves behind some physical evidence, no matter how good they are," Seeing his hesitation Siena backpedaled, "I don't mean to pry. I only ask because I'll be in the same situation."

Hale moved to stand behind his desk, "Its alright, Siena. You're right to think ahead. It's the sign of a good CEO."

The crew held their breath as they waited for him to push aside Siena's inquiry, but he didn't. "Hale Industries has far too many secrets to hold them all securely within its own walls," Hale said.

"That explains the lack of in-house paper trail," Cake commented.

After a pause Hale continued, "Some of the company's more sensitive files, including all those on my darker past, are locked away in a secure location."

"How secure?" Siena challenged.

"Buried ten stories underground on an isolated island in the middle of the pacific ocean. Trust me, Siena, there is no place more secure then this. Not even Kat could get in there."

"And this is a Hale Industries location? I hadn't heard of any island site except on Maui."

"No. It's privately owned," Hale explained, "A complicated history means that the island technically belongs to no single country. Interpol doesn't have jurisdiction there. No one does."

"Cake, are you getting all this?" James asked.

"Already searching, darling," Cake's fingers raged over the keyboard.

"But if you don't own the site and its employees how can you be sure it's really safe?" Siena pretended to fret.

"Because I've tried to break into it myself. I couldn't even get close to it. I know the idea of placing your life in someone else's hands is terrifying, especially to someone with your particular upbringing, but these people are the best at what they do."

Siena crossed her arms, "Still, I don't like the idea of trusting the fate of the company to strangers."

"I don't either, but it's a necessary risk."

Natalie weighed in on the situation, "S, if you can convince him to take you to the island this could all be over and done with in a matter of days."

Siena acknowledged this with the slightest of nods before launching in for another pass, "Uncle Hale, if the company has skeletons I need to know about them. I couldn't hope to run a company if I don't know everything about it," Siena pressed him further.

"And one day you will," Hale assured her, "When you become CEO after my passing the vault and all its contents will be your responsibility, but for the moment, trust me Siena, this is not a responsibility you want."

"I am not a regular intern," she insisted, "You can trust me. I've lived with these sorts of secrets all my life, Uncle Hale-"

"Not these kind, Siena. And I had hoped you never would."

His tone gave her pause, and James waved her off, "Leave it alone, S. We got what we needed. We can't risk pushing him too far."

But curiosity compelled Siena, "Uncle Hale, the vault- its not just evidence of your heists and past girlfriends in there, is it?"

Hale's eyes filled with remorse, "I wish it was. God, I wish it was."

"Wilson Security."

"You sure that's the company, Cake?" Siena asked.

"It's the only security company with a location in the pacific and all the other specs. Mr. Hale mentioned. I had to break through three firewalls just to confirm that it's in the northern hemisphere. It's the place, alright."

"It just doesn't sound very intimidating, does it? Wilson Inc." Siena shrugged.

"Yeah, well neither does Teller Incorporated," Natalie jibed.

"Forget the name," Mac interrupted, "You heard Uncle Hale. These people, whoever they are, they're the best at what they do."

"Fortunately, so are we," James turned from the window. "What do you have for us, Cake?"

"Well, despite the fact that I haven't slept in forty eight hours, or more like because of the fact that I haven't slept in forty eight hours I have plenty. The island is roughly half way between Japan and Hawaii and prior to the 1960s man had never touched it. Wilson Incorporated purchased, or more like seized the place from its former owner in 1986 and drilled a rather large hole into the volcanic rock. And when I say rather large I mean approximately twenty stories deep."

"Approximately?" Mac raised a brow.

"Darlings, this company makes the pentagon's system look like child's play. I am lucky I found what I did."

James almost smirked, "We don't doubt it, Kai. What else did you manage to pull?"

"The place is a fortress. As in cement walls, barbed wire and a fire breathing dragon type of fortress."

"Dragon?" Natalie snorted.

"Don't stamp on my imaginative exaggerations, West. But seriously, my lovelies, this place is the definition of impenetrable. It's an electronic dead zone. No transmissions in or out. Every ventilation shaft is barred, every door way has its own key code and while I can't promise you a dragon I would recommend some flame retardant clothing because in case I forgot the mention, the place it built on top of a freaking under water volcano… yes boys and girls, I said a volcano."

"Active?" James asked.

"Darling, it's practically an Olympic athlete."

"Why would you build on top of a volcano?" Natalie wondered, "It would be near impossible to find anyone crazy enough to work there."

"Guess again, my little thieves. The island itself isn't in immediate danger. But the volcano kicks up enough dirt and steam to create a perma-smog so thick you need a breathing mask just to get within a mile of the place."

Mac considered this, "A cloud like that would-"

"Disrupt satellite visibility? Believe me, gingerbread man, I know. I've been hacking every satellite NASA has recorded in their systems and not a single one can produce a useful image."

Siena spoke up, "No satellites, no blueprints and no electronic footprint. That leaves surveillance."

Natalie agreed, "Yes but how do we get close? Its literally in the middle of nowhere."

"Way ahead of you, my loves. Your flights are booked to Japan for tomorrow. I've got you split up on three separate flights to avoid anyone drawing links between you. From there you are taking a private flight to wake island."

"Wake island? I've never heard of it," Mac confessed.

"That's not surprising considering it's basically a landing strip on a coral outcrop. I've arranged for a fisherman from a nearby island to meet you there. You'll take his boat into the open ocean from there. Wilson. Inc. is about 100 km away from Wake Island but fear not, my munchkins when you've Kai Collins as your travel agents nothing can go wrong."

"You never cease to amaze, Cake," James praised.

"I know, darling, I know."

"This is going to be a delicate surveillance mission. It may be a big ocean but if we don't plan this right they'll see us coming before we can even make out the volcanic cloud. These tails Teller has on us could blow our cover if they follow us there."

"Not a problem, Little Miss CEO, curiously enough every seat on tomorrow's flights from New York to Japan on every airline have just sold out."

That achieved a rare half smile from Mac, "What a coincidence?"

"Coincidences are my specialty. Its something of a gift."

"Thanks, Cake. Now get some sleep. We won't bother you for the next eight hours." James promised her.

"Make that twelve," Cake answered before switching off the air.

"You should get some rest too, Siena," James directed.

They were met with a yawn, "Rest sounds good. I'm almost at my apartment."

"Text me when you get there so I know you're home safe," Natalie requested.

"Will do, Nat. I'll talk to you in the morning, James, before work."

"Sleep tight, S."

Once Siena was gone James dove immediately into plans for the servallience mission, "We need to get there as soon as possible. The sooner we have the information to longer we have to plan our approach. If Uncle Hale couldn't get near this site then it won't be a walk in the park. Mac, I want you to bring your infrared equipment, we don't know what we are dealing with here. Its better to come prepared."

There must have been a looked that passed between the two boys that Natalie was unable to see because when James spoke next he asked,

"What is it?"

"I want to stay here, with Siena. She needs a partner."

"We need you with us running surveillance on the island."

"You and Natalie can handle it. But Siena isn't a con artist, Jay. You're asking a lot of her."

"I know I am. I'm asking too much of all of you but I don't have a choice."

"I don't think we should leave her to face this on her own," Mac insisted. "Besides I can go over surveillance tapes from here."

"Siena's tough. She'll be fine on her own for now. The crew needs you in the Pacific."

Mac was uncharasitically stubborn, "Jay, think of how she's feeling. She is lying directly to her Uncle's face and is about destroy everything he's ever worked for. And when this all plays out we may well be the only family she has left to talk to. On top of that her brother has just abandoned her and to be honest, she's devastated. Siena's tough, but she's not superhuman."

James snorted, "And since when have you been so in-tuned to Siena's feelings?"

"Since I stopped looking at her like a side kick and started giving a damn," Mac snapped.

There was moment of silence before James replied. "I'll think about it."

"Don't bother. I'm staying. End of discussion." Mac stormed out of the room.

Natalie could hear Jay's agitated breathing over the airwaves, "Silence isn't your style so you may as well just say it," he snapped.

"We can handle Europe without Mac," she tried to reason with him.

"There's no reason for him to stay here," James shot back.

"Yes, there is."

"You don't think Siena can do it on her own?" He met her challenge with his own.

"Of course not. I just don't think she should have to."

He threw up his hands, "Alright, fine! Majority rules. Mac stays in New York."

At any other time, Natalie would have glowed in triumph at her victory, but this was not like any other time. She had begun to worry that things would never be what they once were. Not even close.

Natalie tried to reach out to him in whatever place his mind was, "What about you? Are you alright?"

"Alright, isn't how I would describe this," There was a bite to his voice.

"I'm sorry your family is in danger."

"Our family, Nat," he reminded her.

"Our family," she agreed.

"Its not just them," he shook his head, "Its you too. If this goes wrong-"

She cut him off, "I'm aware of what happens if we screw this up, James." A moment later she swallowed her bitter tone. She couldn't see him from an ocean away but she knew exactly where he stood, arms crossed, starring out the kitchen window. "Will he forgive us?" Her words were barely audible, but they carried in the dead silence.

"I can't think about that right now. We will do what needs to be done. It's my call, my responsibility. I'm the one he'll have to blame."

"He loves you, James. And you are doing this out of love. That means something."

"Love? People don't betray the ones they love, Natalie."

"They do if it's necessary. This needs to be done, Jay. Its not your fault."

His voice quavered, "I made the choice. I sent the crew in there."

"There's no way you could have known this would happen-"

"And there's no way I could have known it wouldn't. I never know for sure what's going to happen and still I send us in there. Still I put everyone I care about in danger!"

"James, stop! Just, stop. No one blames you for this. Its just part of the job."

He froze as a thought struck him, "The company-your company- If this goes wrong you'll lose it all."

"Then that's on me," her voice was strong, determined, "On the choices I made."

"I'm sorry, Natalie. I'm so sorry. I can't ask you to forgive me."

"Jay, there's nothing to forgive."

"You say that now but what happens when you loose everything." The floorboards creaked as he paced the length of the kitchen.

"I don't need everything. I just need the people I care about," Natalie insisted, "Siena, Dmitri, Mac, the family, you. You're all I need, Jay."

"You have me, Nat," his voice had softened.

Natalie heard Mac's voice ringing out over the quiet, "I'm going to Siena's. Don't wait up."

"Why? She's probably asleep already." James called back, the irritation boiling over again.

"She's not," Mac answered from the door.

"Well, how would you know-"

"Because she asked me to come," Mac spat back as the door slammed behind him.

"I don't understand what has gotten into him!" James ranted. The moment had clearly passed. "What is he trying to do? Its not as if he'll ever be able to replace Dmitri for her!"

Natalie cringed at that, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not what he's trying to do. I think Mac just sees that she's hurting. Emotion isn't a crime, Jay."

James dismissed the idea without acknowledging it in the infuriating way he always did, "I need sleep and you need to get to school."

Natalie was too exhausted to fight him on it, "Fine then. Goodnight, Mr. Bishop."

"Good morning, Ms. West."

**I know I've kept you waiting, and for that I apologize. I am not going to lie about this or sugar coat it, I'm not doing so well right now. I've been through periods of depression in the past, and though this was far from the worst I've seen, things have really sucked for the past two months. I am sure you all understand that the last thing a stressed, overworked, anxious person wants to do at the end of a long work day is dive in the emotions of stressed, overworked, anxious characters. I am not asking for your forgiveness, I shouldn't have to, but I am asking that you stick with me for just a little longer. Maybe I don't deserve your support, but here I am, asking for it anyway. There is a reason my stories are not lighthearted and fun. They have probably never made you laugh, but you read them anyways and for that I am eternally grateful. I hope to post again soon, but for now I will promise only that this will not be my last post. This is not how I go out. **

**Occasionally absent, but always yours, -George&amp;Eckels. **


	14. Wake Island

**Warning: There is swearing in this chapter! Don't hate me**

**This chapter is choppy but I had to edit because it would have been really boring otherwise (i.e. they went here, then there, … then they did this…. Then that… Drone!). Its not exciting in that it just had to happen for the plot to make sense, but I did my best to inject some Natalie and James moments into it. Sorry for making you wait for another update. I am happy to report that things are much better now and reading your comments has been a massive help. I will never be able to thank you enough for your support and your unwavering kindness. It is so reassuring to know that there are people out there that would care if I dropped off the face of the earth. And I want you all to know that I watch the stats on my stories very closely and even if you're one of those silent readers that rarely leaves reviews I would notice if you weren't around anymore and you would be sorely missed. I hope that my stories are a place you can come whenever you need a pick me up, (even though they can be depressing at times) and I wish the best for each and every one of you. I hope you enjoy.**

"F*cking hell," Natalie swore under her breath.

"My thoughts exactly," James replied.

The travel-worn pair stood in the burning sands of Wake Island. Island was a generous description for the bed of coral that jutted out of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. As the small plane rolled off the landing strip behind them the thieves were left to face their new form of transportation. A rusted fishing boat waited just off the shore, bobbing with the tide that threatened to consume the tiny island. Several of the boat's leaks had been visibly patched with sheets of scrap metal and fraying ropes hung over the bow and cabin like a web. The vessel appeared utterly pathetic against the horizon of endless blue.

"Cake thought we should take something aged. Something that might look like it got washed away in a storm and set adrift, in case we draw any unwanted attention," James shrugged.

"As always, she has over-achieved. It looks positively ancient." They had lost contacted with Cake about an hour before the plane landed.

"Nervous?" James asked, and for once it didn't sound like a challenge.

"Terrified," she confessed.

Jay reached out to squeeze her hand before marching down the dune to the water line.

Natalie West scanned the horizon before trekking down after him, "There are no landmasses for miles. Can you navigate in open water?"

"Yes, but not as well as Mac," he admitted as he tossed his pack over a shoulder and began to wade out to the boat.

Natalie turned around to be confronted once more with the vast ocean. There was no conning your way out of drowning.

"Still think we should have left him with Siena?" James words were distorted by his victorious smirk.

Nat refused to give him the satisfaction, "Get in the boat, smartass," she called as she sloshed into the water.

James tossed his pack over the boat's sagging railing and struggled to hoist himself up after it. When he had made it over the edge he turned back to lift Natalie up only to find she had already scaled her way over the side of the boat without assistance. He couldn't fight the smile that crept over him.

She caught sight of this as she hauled up the anchor, "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," James sobered himself.

Ignoring his repressed grin, , Nat padded her way over to the steering wheel, skirting around some cracked floorboards in her path, and announced, "Alright, you navigate. I drive. That is assuming this thing has a working engine." She turned the ignition and the boat responded by sputtering to life with great indignation.

James cleared the small table inside the cabin and unscrolled the maps while Natalie poked around the cabin in search of life preservers. Compass in hand, James peered out of the cracked glass window onto the endless swells that lay between them and their destination.

Natalie tossed a life jacket to him, snapping him out of his daze.

"How are we on gas?" He inquired.

"Full to the brim," she responded.

"Good, we'll need it. How does the engine look?"

"Well, it exists and appears to function so I would say better then I was expecting," Nat quipped.

A moment of silence followed while James addressed the maps and charts before Natalie assumed her position at the dash and spoke, "Now what?"

James took a steadying breath, "Now we head west."

They travelled four hours through endless blue before catching sight of land.

"There," James pointed it out, "Right where it's supposed to be."

Natalie's sigh of relief did not escape his notice. He hadn't realized until that moment how tense his own shoulders had been.

"Okay, where am I aiming?"

"For the north coast. There," he pointed, "Do you see that bay?"

Natalie squinted before nodding. As the puny little fishing boat approached land, vague outlines of the neighboring islands emerged from the haze of volcanic ash that permeated the air.

Another twenty minutes passed before they fell under the shadow of the island's eastern cliffs. Once Natalie had directed the boat toward the northern shore James instructed her to cut the engine, "We can drift in from here. No need to draw attention with the wake."

The pair took the time it gave them to gather their packs and plan their course on an old map of the islands Cake had managed to dig up for them. "We'll climb onto those rocks their to get to shore. I don't want risk leaving any footprints of the beach."

Natalie agreed and traced a line across the map, "If this map is any good then we should be able to cut across the valley here. So long as we stay under cover of the trees we shouldn't be visible to the drones."

"We'll have to play it by ear, I'm not sure how tall the foliage is in that region. But once we make it to those western cliffs we should have a good vantage point for surveillance on the main island. We should move quickly though. I want to be back by-" Natalie looked at him in anticipation for his next words but James hesitated, "Do you hear that?"

In confirmation Natalie ducked inside the cabin and James quickly followed suit. They crouched together against the rusted wall while listening to the surveillance drone scream across the sky above their heads. It was flying low. Did that mean they had been made? The thought raced through Natalie's mind. Neither dared to speak until the sound had died off.

James set his watch, "If Cake was right we have twenty seven minutes until the next pass over." Kai had been studying the clouded satellite images of the cluster of islands she had managed to steal when NASA wasn't looking. It appeared that several drones circled the main island and the surrounding landmasses on a twenty-four hour basis. The closer the pair got to the main island, the less time they would have between drones. While not large enough to support infrared tech or any such advanced tech the drones were undoubtedly equipped with cameras, which meant the thieves would have to stay out of sight.

Natalie matched her watch with his before replying, "Alright, then lets get moving."

A droplet of sweat tickled its way down Natalie's back. Or perhaps it was seawater that had fallen from her still drenched hair. Either way, it did little to cool the heat radiating off of her. In three hours they had trekked their way across half of the island, making good time despite the volcanic smog that permeated the humid jungle air and filled their lungs.

Every time a drone passed over their heads Natalie had to force herself to crawl back to her feet and continue placing one foot in front of the other. They had no time to stop and admire the cascading waterfalls and enchanting wildlife. But despite the fact that they were on a mission to save their skins, as well as those of their loved ones while being stalked by drones and facing the serious risk of being stranded in the middle of the pacific ocean, the two thieves felt oddly relaxed. They had abandoned all questions of morality on the mainland. The physically impossible challenge of breaking into a secret island facility seemed like child's play to them now. After all, impossible was their specialty.

The young heiress motivated herself to keep moving forward by letting her mind slip to frivolous memories of her family's chateau in the Austrian Alps. Images floated into her mind like delicate snowflakes; coaxing Mia down the slopes with promises of hot apple strudel waiting at the bottom, rolling in the snow banks before plunging into the thermal springs, watching the intricate flakes come to rest on the windowsill as Mia brushed out her tangled locks by the fireplace.

James had other thoughts to occupy his mind. He trailed behind Natalie and let himself be hypnotized by the roll of her hips. Fascinated at the way as those long limbs, swaying, reaching independently only met in the center of her, forming one perfect being. He traced the curve of her with his eyes, from her long neck downwards, letting his gaze rest at the small of her back where all motion seemed to converge on a single point. Underneath her pack, Natalie's tank had slid up, exposing her lower back. Jay was overcome with the desire to touch that central point of her, to lay a hand there as she walk and feel the wired muscles beneath that blanket of olive flesh.

James felt a pull at his own core as he drew closer to her and his disobedient hand slid across her skin coming to rest in the small of her back.

That elegant neck craned back towards him in alarm.

Panic and embarrassment coursed through him, "Down," he breathed.

The pair dropped low and shifted beneath the cover of the low-lying foliage. James left his hand at her back, stitching a finger through her belt loop. It felt as though every nerve in his hand had just been shocked to life. It was intoxicating. He justified the indulgent touch as a gesture of protection, one intended to reassure Natalie. Nothing more.

After a moment she pointed toward her watch with a perplexed expression.

James surveyed the sky before dismissing his own command, "You're right, too early. Sorry, thought I heard something."

At his confirmation Natalie broke her silence with a shrug, "Better safe then sorry and all that. We could use a rest anyways."

Reluctantly lifting his hand from her side, James nodded, "We can wait for the next drone to pass. Drink." He took the water bottle from her belt and popped the cap before handing it to her insistently.

"Always the gentleman," she teased before taking a healthy gulp.

"I bet you never thought you'd be here. On some random island in the middle of the Pacific," he commented as he watched her drink.

She handed him the bottle, "No, not really. But it's the sort of thing typical of you. So I suppose I knew I'd end up in situations like this eventually, seeing as I go where you go," Natalie's smile was tired, "Besides, Hawaii was always too touristy for my tastes anyway."

"Well, maybe we can pick up a keychain on our way out," he joked, "You know, for the memories."

She snorted, "Not necessary. I don't think I'll ever forget that damned boat."

"Don't start cursing it just yet. We need it to hold up for the return trip."

They let their tired chuckles drop for the moment into the silence of the forest. The vibrant plumage of tropical birds flitted to and fro above them. James watched them go in an attempt to distract himself from the electric hum that lingered in his fingertips.

"Look at that hair," Natalie mock scolded as she ran a hand through James' locks that were matted to his forehead with sweat. "You're lucky Cake doesn't have satellite access. She would have been on your case an hour ago."

"You think she's doing alright?" James inquired, "She's been a bit off lately."

Natalie's lips rolled into a tight frown, "I thought I was the only one who noticed."

He shook his head, "I've never known her to crack under pressure."

"It's more then Teller's threats," Natalie assured him, "She hasn't been herself for months now. The captivity is getting to her. We can't let- its just- I feel like I dragged her into all this and if her sentence is increased because of what I asked of her-"

James wasn't about to let Natalie pull the guilt onto herself. "Cake joined us of her own accord. You asked for one favour, she chose to stick around. That's on her, Nat."

The young heiress laughed to herself and rose to her feet.

"What is it? Tell me what you're thinking," his tone was curious now, not commanding.

"That's how it always starts, somebody asks for a favour, and then-" she motioned to their surroundings, "-then all of this happens."

No need for James to inquire about her thoughts in that moment. Their minds both fell back to that rainy morning in the London café where he had asked for the one favour that would change everything.

James remembered it all. The smell of Italian-style espressos roaming through the air. Droplets of rain tickling his scalp as they rolled their way through his damp hair. The shade of nail polish that adorned Nat's slender fingers that were laced around the mug.

Jay felt a pang of homesickness and realized he desperately wanted that moment back, "We should go back there. And bring the crew this time. They have good coffee."

Natalie was puzzled by this, "How do you know they have good coffee? You don't drink coffee."

"No, but I know you like their brew."

"But how-" she started to ask.

James gave a sheepish grin, and elaborated, "You take slow sips when you like the taste of something. And sometimes you slurp."

"I do not slurp!" she protested.

"Yes, you do."

Natalie dropped the point and forged on through the bush, "And for the record, the coffee was no great shakes."

"But you liked it all the same," James rose to follow her.

"My liking something does not make it good," she volleyed back.

"It does in my eyes," he stated without thinking.

Natalie paused to look back at him in contemplation. She wasn't sure how to process those words.

Jay shrugged in a casual manner as he passed her by, "You have good taste."

When he didn't hear Natalie's footsteps fall in line with his own James turned back in time to see her duck beneath the brush. He followed her lead and decided to pass the time studying the contours of her face as she watched the drone stream back.

"That's a bad idea if I've ever seen one," she commented as James crept closer to the edge of the cliff. The volcanic rock had been eroded away so that the summit of the cliff jutted precariously out over the ocean, not to mention to lack of foliage would leave the pair recklessly exposed to detection by the drones that now passed over them every twelve minutes or so.

"Do you have a better one?" James challenged. The heat was getting to him. "There is no way to see over these rocks without going to the edge."

Natalie surveyed their surroundings, "I've had my fill of cliffs thank you very much. Come on," she called back to him as she jogged into the forest.

James followed at a slower pace. How she could move so quickly without stumbling over all these roots was a mystery to him. But he followed her darting shadow as best as he could while keeping one eye on his path. That was, until her shadow disappeared altogether. Jay paused to listen for her footsteps and was met only with the sound of the flustered birds alerting their companions to the presence of two strangers crashing through their habitats.

"Nat?" James called into the shadows of the jungle.

"Up here," the answer came from above. Natalie was perched on the branch of a nearby banyan tree. Its vine like branches streamed to the forest floor where they disappeared into the earth. Nat's nimble frame moved between these branches with ease, climbing ever higher.

She paused in her ascent to call down to him, "Come on, Bishop. We've got work to do."

By the time James caught up Natalie had selected a perch for herself and had broken out the surveillance equipment.

"Quite the view," James noted when he came to rest beside her. No more then a kilometer away was the main island. Wilson Securities facility was visible under the plume of volcanic ash that floated up from the south side of the island.

"Have you got the camera?" She asked, already preoccupied with adjusting the binoculars.

"Right here," He removed the long-lens and camera from his pack.

The pair went silent as yet another drone roared above.

Hours passed in the comfortable silence they had become accustom to. Being together had become as easy as being alone. The still air was periodically shattered by the rumbled of passing drones and the scribble that followed as Nat jotted down the corresponding time in her note pad.

"Ready to send out the bugs?" James had assembled the snipers rifle. Wilson securities blocked any long distance transmissions from the island cluster, therefore Cake was unable to hack into their systems from her 'home-office', but with any luck the company would not be scanning for short-range transmissions. After all, who could possibly make it into the field of view of their drones without being spotted?

"Ready," she confirmed. If Jay's shots alerted the island's security the thieves would have to be ready to move quickly if they had any chance, however slim, of escaping.

Natalie watched him inhale deeply and adjust one of the rifle's many knobs. "Shoot straight," she advised.

A soft chuckle rocked his shoulders, "Thanks for the advice," he retorted sarcastically.

Inhaling again he pulled the trigger on the exhale.

Natalie checked the tablet in her hands and realized for the first time how clammy her hands had become, "Right on target. Nice shot," she congratulated him, "Care to do it again?"

"Don't mind if I do. Where next?"

"Eastern wall, just above the air vent."

James adjusted the gun, loaded the next bugged bullet and fired on the exhale.

"Three inches above target," Natalie noted.

"Damn. Should I try another?"

"Don't bother its still getting the data we need. Two down, fourteen to go."

James hit the following targets with remarkable accuracy, needing to repeat only two of the shots, and then a third, but Natalie maintained that that was simply because he was a perfectionist.

"Nice shooting," Natalie remarked as he disassembled the rifle. "You've got show me how to do that sometime."

"I've barely mastered it myself. You should ask-" James let his words fall away before his tongue had a chance to shape them.

"Dmitri." Natalie finished for him.

"He's a damn good shot," James admitted. "Who knows maybe he's putting his skills to good use in his new life," his tone had turned bitter.

Her brow furrowed, "A hit-man? You don't really think he'd go there do you?"

Jay sighed in defeat, "No, I don't think he's capable of that, I'm just-"

"Angry," Natalie nodded in understanding.

"How are the bugs doing?" he inquired, eager to change the topic.

"They seem to be transmitting fine," Natalie watched as the data streamed into her tablet. Cake's ingenious inventions had been designed to pick up echoes, vibrations, thermal images and frequencies to create a virtual map of the inner workings of the compound. If they functioned properly the crew would know where ever door, lock, and sensor was located in the first twenty levels of the structure.

The pair would have to hang around for the next sixteen hours as they waited for the bugs to work their magic and run a scan of every accessible level.

"So," James spoke as he dropped from the last branch to the jungle floor, "We have four hours until sundown, Miss West, what would you like to do?"

Natalie's eyes lit up with mischievous glee, "Strip, of course."

Their clothes were hidden beneath a nearby tree. On any other occasion Natalie might have felt exposed in her shorts and sports bra but she was far too distracted by the delightfully refreshing water to mind. Besides, it was only Jay.

She splashed her way into the river as James dunked his head. He surfaced with a great spray that doused Natalie's dry upper half.

"Feel better?" she laughed.

He was almost playful when he replied, "I feel perfect."

And he did indeed seem perfect to Natalie in the moment. James was not made of brawn like Mac, but the water slid down over his toned shoulders and back like a roman fountain. He pushed his wet hair back from his blue eyes that seemed to mirror the water. His lips were curled into one of those rare radiant and unabashed smiles, interrupted only by the endearing scar on his upper lip.

So many of his scars held their shared memories, and though she would never tell him, Natalie liked to think of those marks as hers. Just like the jagged silver line on her forearm belonged to him. They were everlasting proof that two people had collided in time, and changed one another in a way that could never be undone.

Natalie waded toward the edge of the stream where it fell away into a waterfall. She peered over the edge then sent a playful look James' way, "You know I still haven't repaid you for Italy, when you pushed me off that cliff."

James chuckled as he came to join her at the edge, "I didn't push you off a cliff. I tackled you."

She raised a brow. "And somehow that's better?"

"Of course," he slid a hand into hers, "I would never let you fall alone, Nat."

And once again, they were falling.

**Not altogether happy with how that came out but its my birthday and I really wanted to get this chapter out as a present to myself. So lets talk future fanfics- After this story I have another (related) story that I am working on, but I also need ideas. I was thinking of starting a Percy Jackson fan fiction about the time after the war with Gaea (think high-school/uni stuff, camp drama, PTSD, developing romances and, of course, some epic monster battles). But I am certainly open to suggestions if you have a favourite series. I think I may have exhausted the Heist Society world. I hope to talk to you all again soon.**

**P.S. Also just realized that we have barely gotten into the story and I've already surpassed the word count of We Are Thieves. Madness! How on earth am I writing so little in so many words? Shall we see if we can surpass the number of reviews as well?**


	15. Liar

**Not a huge fan of this chapter but it was one that had to happen eventually. As requested, Hale is back, but be careful what you wish for. Enjoy **

"Good morning, Miss. Haddad."

Siena looked up from her phone to reply to the receptionist with a cordial smile, "Good morning."

Siena did her best to maintain friendly relationships with the office staff. It had been just over a week since her Uncle Hale had moved Siena from the intern bullpen into a corner office of her own. Her sudden and accelerated rise up the corporate ladder had surely irritated some but, to be fair, Siena had taken on more work as well. Her days were flooded with piles of paper work and drawn out meetings that were followed by countless introductions to important members of Hale Industries and their competing companies. When she finally managed to escape the office, Mac was waiting in her new apartment, more then willing to distract her in any way necessary. There wasn't a moment to spare and Siena couldn't say she minded. The madness of her new life helped to keep the suffocating truth from her mind, that it was all a lie.

An intern matched Siena's step as she strode through the maze of cubicles toward her office, "Miss Haddad, Mr. Hale sent these documents over for you to read before your 11 o'clock meeting. Should I leave them with Kate?"

"No, that's alright, Jenny. I'll take them," Siena tucked the files under her arm before continuing on.

Siena Haddad. A jolting reminder that this was not her life. Siena Antokov may have been a ghost, but her ancestors were infamous con artists and thieves. It would not do for the next CEO of Hale Industries to be attached to such a name. Seeing as she was supposed to carry it for the rest of her life, Hale had let Siena choose her false surname.

Siena never knew her father, not even his name, but somehow taking an Arabic surname made her feel closer to him. As far as she knew he was a normal man, most likely very wealthy, but compared to the life her mother's family led, Siena's father must have been the picture of normality.

Normality was something she craved desperately. In the few moments Siena had to herself, usually driving from one meeting to the next, she wondered if she could ever really become Miss Haddad. She had never seriously considered marriage and a home life before but Siena was suddenly contemplating whether she would be introduced to her future husband as Miss Haddad. At what point in a relationship do you tell your significant other that you are not in fact an orphan, but rather the decedent of a long line of criminals. But then again, why was she worrying about such things when she had known Mac all her life. To him she was S. Siena was startled by how easily her mind had jumped to the assumption that Mac was the one for her. Was he? They had only technically been dating a week or so. Mrs. Bagshaw. Bagshaw. No, that wouldn't do. Bagshaw was just as troublesome of a name as Antokov, just with a slightly more explosive flare.

Siena was pondering over this question of names when her secretary caught sight of her and jumped up from her seat.

"Morning, Kate," Siena sung as she sailed past

"You're here! Oh, right, good morning," Kate jittered.

"What's on the agenda?" Siena asked while taking in the flustered appearance of her secretary.

"Um- the agenda- right, your schedule," Siena paused to wait as Kate scrambled for her tablet. Kate was young, almost as young as Siena, and despite being with the company for several months, she was doubly as inexperienced as her boss. It didn't help that she was in the midst of a messy split with her on again off again boyfriend. What was his name again? Something with an M.

"You alright?" Siena paused to ask.

Matt? No. Mike?

"Uh, I'm okay. But-" Kate sputtered on.

Mark. His name was Mark.

"Does this have something to do with Mark? Did you have another fight?"

Kate's eyes flit between Siena and the office door, "Please, don't be angry," the frazzled girl pleaded.

Siena was unsettled by her distress, "Why would I be angry? Did you forget to tell me about a meeting?"

"No, its not that. It's- you have someone waiting in your office," Kate lowered her voice.

"Who?"

"I don't know!" Kate exclaimed, now on the verge of tears, "She wouldn't give a name and she refused to wait outside. I'm so sorry, Miss Haddad, I really am. I didn't know how to stop her. She was so insistent."

"Its alright, Kate. Just, next time, lets lead with the stranger in the office bit, okay?"

The young woman choked back her tears and nodded.

Siena dropped off the stack of papers on Kate's desk and turned to face her office doors. What would she do if it was Teller waiting in their? But it couldn't be. Kate had said it was a woman. One of Teller's minions perhaps?

What she found was much, much worse.

Gabrielle was studying the nameplate with mild disgust, "Haddad. Hale could at least have gone for something Russian," she said by way of a hello. Siena briefly registered the fact that Uncle Simon was by the corner bookshelf.

"Uncle Hale didn't choose the name. I did. Besides, do I look Russian to you, mother?"

"I raised you. You're my daughter. That makes you just as Russian as you are Egyptian. You are my daughter," Gabrielle insisted.

"Am I? I'm nothing like you."

Gabrielle scoffed, "You think you can change your name and become someone new? I raised you an Antokov. You're part of this family whether you want to be or not."

Siena needed an angle, a story for why she would suddenly turn her entire world on its head. Hale may have bought the James story but unrequited love wasn't going to cut it with her mother.

"Did you ever consider that maybe I wouldn't want to follow your footsteps? Every other child in the world was asked what they wanted to be when they were young, but me, I was pulling jobs by the time I was seven."

Gabrielle had spun on her with skeptical eyes, "You might be able to lie to yourself but you can't lie to your mother. You love being a thief, Siena. You always have. I don't understand why you're doing this but I know it's not what you really want."

"You don't know anything about me," Siena spat back, scrambling to hold onto her rebellious teenager act.

"What's going on here?" Hale rolled into the office and his eyes narrowed on Gabrielle. Kate must have called him. Bless her.

"Simon," Hale nodded in acknowledgement. Siena felt a pang of guilt that she had forgotten Simon was even there. In fact, why was Uncle Simon there?

Before Siena had time to ponder the thought Hale had set his sights on her mother. His tone casual, but charged, "Gabs, you should have called before you-"

"Don't you dare 'Gabs' me! You've been harboring her here for weeks and yet you conveniently forgot to mention it to any of us."

"Harboring? Gabrielle, Siena isn't a criminal-" Hale tried to reason with her. Simon cringed at the poor choice of words.

"Yes, she is, Hale. Siena is a criminal! That's the point!" Gabrielle exclaimed.

"Okay, lets keep our voices down," Simon cautioned as he shut the door.

As per usual, they ignored him.

"Its her choice," Hale jabbed, "Siena may not be eighteen yet but you can't force her to commit felonies."

"Force her? Oh, right, because you're not encouraging her at all," Gabs drawled sarcastically, "You had no part in her decision what-so-ever. I don't appreciate you offering my children jobs behind my back, Hale."

Siena felt the need to be heard. After all, con or no con, this was her life they were discussing. "I chose to leave the crew, mom. Uncle Hale has been kind enough to support me in that decision. I would appreciate if you could do the same," Siena laid on a formal tone in the hopes pulling away from the emotional nature of the conversation. This was business. Nothing more.

All eyes turned back to Siena, and Gabrielle adopted a infuriatingly dismissive tone, "You're going through a phase, just like Kat did. She snapped out of it and so will you. But you need to consider what happens when this little adventure is over."

Just a phase? Okay, now Siena was pissed. "She didn't 'snap out' of it, mother. You got her expelled. You and Uncle Hale smoked Aunt Kat out," Siena accused.

"If we hadn't she would have come to her senses a years later and then it might have been too late. Don't you understand how hard it was for her to come back?" Gabrielle did her best impression of reasonable.

"It was hard," Hale broke in, "because we never let her forget it. We were wrong. We never should have interfered, Gabs."

Gabrielle was mesmerizingly beautiful even as she rolled her eyes, "And yet here you are again, interfering."

In response, Hale's expression took on a sickening grin. He was going for blood. "What makes you more upset, Gabrielle, the fact that your children didn't come to you for help or the fact that they came to me." They? Had Hale seen Dmitri since he left the crew? Why didn't he mention this to her before?

"That's crossing a line, Hale," Simon growled from his corner.

"Shut up, Simon. You're either in this or you're out of it," Hale spat, "For once, take a god damn side."

Simon took a stumbling step backwards in shock. Siena wanted to jump in and defend her Uncle, but if she did that she would lose her only ally.

"He has a side," Gabrielle spoke for him. "Simon is part of this family, and unlike you he acts like it."

"There you go, Gabs," Hale sneered, "always speaking for others. Even when they don't ask you to."

"Stop!" Siena called out, "If you're angry yell at me. Neither of you mean what you're saying." How could she let this happen?

Gabrielle screamed on, her rage contorting that beautiful face into something feral. "No! No, I am sorry you never had children, Hale. I'm sorry you never had a family and I am sorry that James will never be your son but you do not get to take my daughter from me. You want someone to look up to you and adore you, then go buy a puppy and leave my children out of it."

"Is that what you think of me, Gabs?" Hale spat, "I'm just some pathetic, lonely bachelor? I am helping Siena because she asked me to. She asked me. Not you and that just kills you, doesn't it?"

Gabrielle let forth a cruel laugh, "You bastard! If you really gave a shit about her then you wouldn't be leading her down a path to a place she doesn't really want to go."

"A place you don't want her to go. Because you're afraid you'll lose her, and this time you won't be able to pull her back and-"

"She is not Kat!" Gabrielle shrieked.

Hale forged on, "And you'll be all alone. Just like you always feared."

"She won't be alone," Simon stepped forward.

Hale's glare flicked toward him, "What are you-"

"I'm picking a side," Simon cut him off.

"Enough!" Siena pleaded, "If you want to have it out then go elsewhere. Because I have work to do." She pushed past them to her desk and busied herself with organizing the stacks of paper. But she couldn't make out the print through her clouded eyes.

The room had fallen silent and Siena felt her mother's delicate hand brush back her hair. Siena resisted the urge to cringe away from the touch.

"I know I'm not the world's best mother," Gabrielle confessed, "But I did the best I could on my own. Being a single mother isn't easy."

"And whose fault is that?" The words were out of Siena's mouth before she had the time to consider the repercussions. She just wanted this to be over. She need them to go away.

Gabrielle recoiled, "Don't talk to me like you know what happened, why I left him."

This was not where Siena wanted the conversation to go.

"How could I when you never speak about it-"

This was too deep.

Too close to the truth.

But Gabrielle charged on into dangerously emotional territory, "You have no idea how hard that was for me. Knowing you would grow up without a father, like I did. I didn't have a choice. I had to do what was best for my family. I didn't want to leave him, I never wanted that-"

Liar! All guards were dropped and Siena went on the attack, "He was a con! You promised him a family and then when you got what you wanted you cut and ran, just like grandma taught you. Don't pretend you loved him. He was just another target. That's why you had us. Dmitri and I were a con. My birth, my family, my whole freaking existence is a lie! Your lie!"

Gabrielle had turned away, shielding her face from the violent words. Even Hale seemed stunned by Siena's malice. But she couldn't stop.

"So forgive me, mother, if I don't want my children to be a lie! Forgive me for wanting a real family and a life of my own."

Siena screamed internally. _What the hell have you done you stupid, stupid girl_? There was no coming back from this. Siena had just destroyed everything and worst of all, this wasn't part of the con. It wasn't another constructed lie to play on the sympathies of others. This was the horrifying truth that their family had buried deep within the workings of their hearts with an unspoken vow never to release them.

Like the violent splitting of an atom, Siena had torn open her own heart and set off the chain reaction that would obliterate every beautiful memory they had. It was irreversible. And at the center of it stood her mother, heartbroken.

"You are not a lie," she whispered.

"What?"

"I love you and you are not a lie," Gabrielle couldn't even bear to cry, "Siena, you and Dmitri are my everything. I swear to you, you are not a con."

There was no reversing the damage. For decades to come everything that bloomed between them would grow warped and unnatural. But to tell the truth would be to sentence them all to a life of imprisonment. Better a brokenheart then a caged soul. With a single word, Siena sealed her fate, "Liar."

"Siena-" Gabrielle pleaded.

"Get out," the heartless girl commanded. "All of you. I have work to do."

Hale was the first to retreat, still in a state of shock. When Gabrielle seemed unable to move, Simon pulled her hunched form against him and led her to the door.

Siena heard his footsteps pause over the sound of her mother's sobbing. It was like the air was thick with shattered glass and every breath hurt. Simon's voice echoed loud through the piercing air, "I don't understand why you're doing this,- it doesn't make any sense to me, -but when you're tired of burning bridges, come find me."

The door closed and Siena waited for her limbs to give out and her throat to contract. But they didn't.

So Miss Haddad sat down at her desk and began the days work.

**Ewwww, emotions. **

**Ugh, I'll confess that I hate writing scenes like this. Next chapter will be back to business for the crew. Once again thank you for your patience. –George&amp;Eckles **


	16. Tabloids and Tracks

**AN: You guys are awesome! No seriously, you make me so happy. I am not equipped for such emotions. Hope you're all doing well. School is starting up again for Canadians which means lots of readings for me (I only recently learned that in New Zealand their school terms are vastly different then in North America! What is this madness! Not sure why I was shocked seeing as their seasons are flipped and who the heck wants vacation in winter but I am easily shocked so...) Anyways, enough of my rambling, whether you're just starting up school again or are dead in the middle of it I wish you all luck. And now that I've talked your poor ears off I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review! I love reviews! Reviews make me happy and motivated :) (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).But seriously I'm going to stop talking now... I promise...no really...**

"Do you think she'll forgive you, when this is all said and done and everything is out in then open?"

"She'll forgive me, but my mother never forgets. At least not things like this."

"I'm sorry, S." Natalie leaned to the left as the car made a turn off the high street. She didn't think she had ever been to this part of London.

"I know you are. And I'm sorry too, and Mac and James and Cake and everyone is sorry but it never seems to matter. Does it? I'll be sorry for the rest of my life and it won't change what happened," she was on the verge of tears again.

"I know it won't, but I'm still sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Siena said, her voice turning soft.

"Are you alone now?"

"Yeah, just in the apartment with Mac. He's fixing something for us to eat." There was a muffled sound from the background and Siena's voice followed, "Just talking to Natalie." A pause, "Left hand side of the fridge. Top shelf, I think," Another pause, longer this time. "Not sure. I'll ask." Siena's voice rounded back as she addressed Natalie, "Is Jay with you?"

"No, I'm on my way to him. Why? Message from Mac?"

"No, we just figured it must be quite late there. Where are you headed, anyways?"

"It's almost 11," Natalie confirmed. "Not entirely sure where actually. James sent me an address in the warehouse district. Said he's rented the place for the job."

"I never got a chance to ask how Wake Island went?" Siena said before pausing to laugh at something unheard, "Yes, thank you, smartass, I'm aware their continued state of existence means success but I was asking about specifics."

Natalie smiled to herself. At least Siena had Mac to keep her spirits up. "Yes, yes. We're both still alive. It all went off surprisingly well actually." She thought back to the fading memory of sun on her olive skin, "The whole things was almost relaxing, once we got used to the drones."

She could almost hear Siena's eyes rolling, "Oh yes, can't be bothered by the drones, can you. Such a trivial things."

Natalie ignored the jest, "Cake said we managed to get all the information we needed. She spent the day walking James through it. They should have a rough plan set up by now."

Siena groaned in response, "I feel so useless here. I should be helping you, not playing house."

"Honestly, I can't say I've been much help myself. It's James and Cake that have been slaving away while I'm in school."

"How is school going? Are they still all over you about the CEO thing?"

"Well, Susan and her crowd have finally sod off but I can still feel them watching me."

Siena shuddered, "That can't be fun. I don't know how you stand it. By the way, you have to teach me how you did your hair for that board meeting you had the other day. I can never get mine to look like that in a braid."

"How did- but you and I didn't see each other that day- We didn't even skype."

"Tabloids," Siena answered distractedly, "I'm looking at you right now. Cute jumper by the way. God, I sound like Cake, don't I?"

Natalie groaned at the mention of the tabloids. "Nothing in there about being spotted in the pacific I hope."

"Nope, just your outfits for the week. Although they do mark here that you have a habit of disappearing."

"Well, everyone knows that already," Natalie brushed it off.

"Yeah, and now everyone knows that you 'prefer pastel nude nail polish as opposed to the bright, colour-blocking trend that's going around Instragram at the moment."

"How charmingly creepy," Natalie chimed sarcastically.

"Maybe you should get Instragram," Siena thought aloud.

Natalie's laugh came out as a crisp bark, "Brilliant idea, S. Caption: Just chilling with my mates, dodging drones off the coast of middle of nowhere, hashtag-not-suspicious-at-all, hashtag-drone-selfie."

Siena chuckled, "Not what I had in mind, although that could be very entertaining. No, I thought if you set up an official account and we had Cake photo shop you into some photos it might supply you with an alibi for when, quote 'the mysterious heiress jets off to some unknown location, reappearing days later with a chic tan and sea-side waves everyone is dying to recreate' end quote."

"Ugh, am I a person or the subject of a bad pre-teen novel?" There was an audible thump as Natalie slid down the seat and knocked her head against the car door.

"What was that? Are you alright? Nat?" Siena's voice held unusual panic.

"Fine," Natalie croaked, "Just took a sharp turn, that's all."

"Is Mia driving?"

"No, she had a meeting. Its Ivan tonight. Hold on a minute, S," Natalie rolled down the partition. "Ivan, not that I don't appreciate your keenness for arriving on schedule but I would prefer that we arrive in once piece," Natalie teased, careful to mask her annoyance.

"Apologies, Miss West. We had paparazzi on our tail and I was instructed by Miss Mia that you should not be followed tonight."

Natalie smiled. Even when she was absent Mia was always looking out for her. Switching the phone between her hands, Natalie reached around for the seatbelt, "I see. In that case, Ivan, punch it."

This brought a hesitant grin to the elderly man's face.

"Am I to break traffic laws, Miss?"

Natalie wondered then if there was anyone she couldn't corrupt, "At your discretion, sir."

She returned to her conversation with Siena, "What's that?" the other girl asked.

The heiress braced herself as Ivan pulled another hard corner, "Nothing. Just considering getting my driver a faster car."

A pause, "Mac suggests a Ferrari. Very classy. Understated."

Natalie chuckled as they pulled a rather sudden u-turn, "Tell him I'll consider it. Have you talked to James today?"

"No, we haven't heard from him since he checked in yesterday to tell us you made it back alright."

"So he doesn't know about what happened in the office today?" Natalie was not pleased by the idea of having to be the one to tell him.

Siena sighed, "Apparently Cake was listening in because she told Mac he needed to get to the office and bring cupcakes so I'm willing to bet she's told James by now. That is unless she thought I would want to tell people myself."

Natalie thought it over, "No, she texted me about it earlier today so James almost certainly knows by now." She wondered briefly if anyone had informed Dmitri, and almost voiced the thought before remembering no one had spoken to him in almost two weeks. She missed him, and though they would never admit it Natalie knew the crew was keenly feeling his absence. But so long as he was safe, everything could be forgiven.

Siena could be heard flipping through the tabloid's pages, "Are you still talking to that Eric guy?"

Nat was confused by the sudden change in topic, "Yes, actually, I meant to bring that up. He asked me to lunch next Thursday. I was going to say no but then I thought if I did that it would attract too much attention. The last thing I need right now is for Susan and her lackeys to start an inquisition."

"Cake was right though, he's cute. Not my type," she added quickly, "But still, kind of gorgeous."

Natalie frowned, "Is he in the tabloids too?"

"Yup, page nine. Hey, Mac, come look at Nat's new boyfriend!" Siena called.

"Siena! Honestly you're as bad as Cake," Natalie protested, "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Well don't worry the tabloids don't think he is either," Siena snickered, "Mac agrees, he's very cute. We approve."

"Oh, good, well now that I have your blessing I'll just go ahead and marry him." Natalie replied with sarcasm.

"Don't let Cake pick out your wedding dress just yet. Says here Mr. Eric Holden has recently been spotted with one Theodora Ryde. Do you know her?"

"Sounds familiar," Nat pondered the name.

Ryde. Why did that name bother her? It was like a vague itch Natalie couldn't seem to scratch.

"I guess you wouldn't," Siena's voice broke through her reverie, "It says here the Rydes don't go out in public much."

"Uh, Siena, why are you reading the tabloids anyways?"

"Well, you're busy so I thought I would monitor the media for you to make sure their not on your tail. Though I'll admit, its sort of depressing that the paparazzi know about your new boyfriends before I do."

"Does the paper mention anything about my having lunch with Eric Thursday?"

A quick scan then, "Nope."

"There then. You were the first to know," Natalie joked.

Siena met her jest with one of her own, "What an honor. I guess that makes it best friend, 1, tabloids, 0." There was a shuffling then she said, "Mac says foods ready. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course, go eat."

"Make sure your eating too, okay? Or the tabloids will think you've got an eating disorder."

"Don't worry about me. I've got Mia, remember. She would feed me the skin off her own bones before she'd let me starve."

"Okay well don't work too late and say hello to Jay for us."

"Will do. Night, S."

The conversation ended with a click and Natalie was hit with a wave of exhaustion. The car's movements had settled into a smooth roll which meant they must have lost the paparazzi tail. Determined not to fall asleep before arriving at the warehouse, Nat searched for something to focus on.

She spent the next ten minutes pondering over the name Ryde and where she had heard it before giving in and typing the name into her phone. Google brought up several pages about Theodora Ryde. She appeared to be the stereotypical rich, party girl photographed leaving ever popular bar in the city. Theodora, or 'Thea' as her famous companions called her, had recently exploded onto the party scene of London after being confined to her penthouse home for most of her teenage years.

There was no denying the girl was beautiful. She even trumped Eric in the paparazzi shots taken of them leaving TALK, London's newest celebrity run restaurant. Perhaps she should have felt a tinge of jealousy seeing the young woman's arm tucked through Eric's but even thought she was technically an 'older woman' Natalie found nothing the least bit threatening about her. She had seen the story a thousand times over, the good girl who escapes from the strict control of her parents, rising to her rightful status of 'it-girl', befriending supermodels, dating billionaires, before fading off into obscurity all too soon. Most ended up in a rehab center or on a nine month 'tour through Europe'.

But there was a twist. Natalie's eye caught on a single word in Theodora's Wikipedia page - orphan. 'Theodora Ryde and her five siblings were orphaned two years ago following the death of their mother….estranged father died of cancer when Theodora was only five….Now under the care of their uncle'. Natalie felt a pang of guilt for having stereotyped the young woman.

Under the stress of it all, sometimes Natalie had a hard time remembering that she was not the only one suffering. She still had parents, absent as they may be. Natalie daydreamed about what it might be like to have five siblings. Chaotic she imagined.

It struck her that this was how the world must see her too. Just another heiress. Not a party girl, but shallow and removed none the less. Better to let them make assumptions then to peak the presses interest, lest they get too close to the truth. But still, its stung a little.

The car rolled to a stop two blocks away from the location, as requested, and Ivan called back, "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the door, Miss? This neighborhood is not safe." Natalie was touched by the genuine concern in his voice.

"That's alright, Ivan. Here will do," Natalie swung the door open and let the cool night air shake the sleep from her body, "Its likely I'll be a while so why don't you go an have a meal, stay warm. I'll call you in a few hours and you'll pick me up at this corner. Agreed?"

When the car's headlights vanished around the corner, Natalie surveyed the area before checking the address scribbled across her left wrist. 14 Balfour Street.

Still in the clothes she had worn to the office that afternoon, Natalie keenly felt the chill of the night as she trotted past the freshly painted warehouses toward the more dingy structures to the south. It was several minutes before she reached Balfour at which point she carried on past it to Gladstone road and searched for number 12. One street south and two numbers less then the given address. That was the system she and James had established a month or so after she joined the crew.

Natalie plotted a mental map of the area, keeping in mind that she would have to take a different route back so as not to draw attention. She was, after all, the second most recognizable face in London. Heiresses did not take routine walks through the London warehouse district and they certainly did not do so alone, in the middle of the night.

She came face to face with a seemingly abandoned warehouse. Its windows were boarded and the doors burdened with chains. None of this, however, gave her pause as to whether this was the correct location. The structure had James written all over it.

"I'm here," Natalie spoke into her phone.

"Left side of the building. Second door down."

Natalie followed the instructions whilst keeping an eye open for any passers by. She had attended dozens of these secret rendezvous by now but she would be lying if she said it didn't still make her feel like James Bond.

Natalie rapped twice on the door and stepped back as it swung open.

"Have you talked to S?" A voice called by way of greeting. The hall was dark, and James was nothing but a silhouette against a distant light. But Nat would know that silhouette anywhere.

"Just got off the phone with her," she stepped inside the warehouse, letting the door thump behind her.

"Mac's with her?"

Natalie nodded through the shadows.

"Good. She shouldn't be alone after that," Jay allowed. He looked Natalie up an down, "Follow me. I've got a spare pair of track bottoms if you need them. Cake and I have been going through the data."

Natalie was keenly aware of her heels clacking against the concrete floor, "She told me. Said you've made good progress."

She saw the back of his head bob in conformation, "We have most of our entry planned out. I'll warn you now, this is going to be a tough one."

It was at this point that they reached the end of the hall and pushed past yet another heavy door into the well light warehouse. When Natalie's eyes adjusted to the light she found herself looking at a mostly empty space. At the center of the space were several desks covered in schematics and wires.

"I've sent Cake to bed so its just us tonight," James shrugged apologetically.

Natalie let her waves tumble across her face when she leaned down to remove her heels, secretly pleased that he couldn't see the slight smile on her face, "We'll make do. So what's first, boss?"

"First," he handed her a mug, "Coffee."

"You're a saint," Natalie practically chugged the thing, "Next?"

"Grab a seat. This might take a while."

He brought up 3D blueprints on the nearest screen.

Natalie whistled, "This looks… fun. All - what is that?- twenty floors of it."

"Twenty-five actually. But we'll be aiming for sub-floor 14."

"What are we up against?" Nat shed her blazer and curled up in the offered chair.

"24-hour guard surveillance and cameras,-" James began.

"Naturally."

"At least one laser field that we know of. Heat, motion and sound sensors on each floor. And a Fletcher 5000 vault entrance complete with retinal scanner. The goal is to get in an out without a scratch."

"Isn't it always?"

"Well this time its essential. This place is too good for any common run of the mill criminal mastermind to target. Any trace we leave will make it obvious we came with a specific purpose."

Natalie nodded in comprehension, "And for someone to go through the effort of targeting a specific vault they would have to have an idea of what's inside. Which would point to a breach of security from within Hale Industries."

"Which would lead straight to Siena," Jay finished for her, "We can't allow that. We'll need to get Siena well and clear of Hale Industries before they even have a chance to consider that Teller's takedown came about through corporate espionage."

Natalie snorted, and rest her chin on her knees, "If my grandfather could only see me now, all tied up in corporate espionage and its not even for my own company. This was what he hated about the business world."

"I can pull this one on my own, Nat. Technically we only need one person."

"Not a chance, cowboy. You're not going in there alone."

His smile was sad, "No, I didn't think so."

"Alright, hit me with it. What's our entrance strategy?"

It was another half and hour before the pair had run through the entire break-in plan, five minutes of which were spent disputing the best point of entry.

"So that's it huh," Natalie said when they had completed the walk through. "One wrong move and its all over."

"Cake and I have already mapped out the first corridor. We'll need to disable the motions sensors first, then the heat, all without entering the camera's field of vision."

"Is it possible?"

"Yes, but it will have to be planned out down to the second. One of us will disable the alarms, and the other will follow with the equipment. I would offer to disable the alarms but you're faster then I am, and speed will be a necessity here."

"No, you're right," Natalie had taken to chewing her thumb nail, "My height will give me an advantage when it comes to the cameras anyways."

"It won't be easy," Jay remarked.

"Yes, but since when has the level of difficulty ever deterred us," Natalie poked fun. "Although, there is one problem I don't see a way around here."

James brow pulled tightly into a frown, "And what's that?"

"If we pull this off, you're never going to find something to top this. And that just might drive you crazy," she teased.

"A valid point," he said, "I guess I'll just have to find something else to obsess over."

"You could take up fishing," she suggested.

"Not really my speed."

"Nascar?"

"That's more Mac's speed." James shrugged and the laughter fell out of his cheeks. He said, "When my mother was our age, a little younger actually, Aunt Gabs said she went through this phase where she only stole things she felt needed to be returned to their rightful owner, and then a few jobs on the side to pay the bills. She'd track down paintings that had been stolen during wars or seized by corrupt government officials and return them to the descendants of the original owners."

"Like you did with the Hermes statue, back when we first met?" Natalie asked.

He nodded the said, "After all this destruction and damage, I guess I just like the idea of doing something to fix holes, instead of causing them."

Natalie smiled thoughtfully, "I like that idea too."

"And once the family finds out what we've done its not like we'll be able to go home anytime soon. I don't know, maybe - maybe I'm just trying to clear a dirty conscience, impossible as that may be."

"Well, there you have it," Natalie smirked.

"Have what?" James looked at her with curiosity.

"You've found your next impossible task. Clearing your conscience."

He chuckled, "Yeah, maybe I have. But in the mean time we have another impossible task to focus on. Ready to get to work?"

Just then Cake's voice chimed out of the speakers, "I hope you darlings have drunk you coffee because we have a problem. I big problem."

James lips became taut, "I thought I told you to get some rest, Cake."

"And I fully intended to but I was checking a few things before I hit the sack and I found something disturbing." Satellite images of a beach flashed onto the screen.

"Please tell me that's not Wilson's island," Natalie said wearily.

"What are we looking at here, Kai?" James voice was once again stone.

The image changed and several shadows appeared on the beach. With each successive photograph the shadows moved closer to the water and then seemed to circle something on the ground, "Is that us? It can't be there are more then two people there." Natalie commented.

"Worse darling," Cake's voice had taken on a rare note of stress, "This is from several hours after you left the island. I think they found your footprints in the sand."

"Sh*t!," James cursed under his breath, "How is that possible? The tide should have washed them away."

"Looks like the guards spotted them before the tide came in. I'm sorry, James, I should have thought to warn you about your tracks."

"Its not your fault, Cake. We should have been more careful." Natalie responded for him. She suddenly felt like and idiot for having frolicked through waterfalls so carelessly, leaving tracks through the entire forest. Natalie felt sick, not only because of the increasing stakes, but because the memory of her and James splashing through their own personal paradise was now tarnished by her own stupidity. The mental image of his devilish grin and violent blue eyes peering out at her through the sheets of the waterfall were what had gotten her through the last grueling twenty four hours and Natalie had had every intention of holding onto it for the rest of her life. Now the memory lay shattered on the concrete floor and it felt as though something had died. Natalie could practically hear James thoughts- how he never should have let himself get distracted- how he should have gone alone. She pushed all these thoughts aside and tried to focus on being a thief. "What does this mean for the heist?"

"Now they know that at least two individuals made it onto the island by sea. They'll have upped their security in anticipation of a break in," Cake filled her in.

"It also means they'll be going over all their drone footage with a fine tooth comb," James hissed, "Damn it, as if this job wasn't impossible enough already! Now they'll be expecting us!"

"Any hope of getting in the way you did before is out. They'll have their eyes on the ocean." Cake reported from the speakers.

Natalie turned to James. She could almost see the gears in his head grinding the information into little particles of sand and then trying to reform them into a new plan, "What does that leave us?," she asked. "Air? We can't exactly land a plane on their runway discreetly."

There was silence for a moment as the gears turned.

"We'll just have to tell Teller its an impossible job," Cake admitted defeat.

"Maybe, not-" James pondered.

"I know that face. What are you thinking?" Natalie studied James expression.

"Its crazy," he warned her.

"It's always crazy. Start talking, Bishop."

Slowly the corners of his mouth turned upwards into that familiar almost-grin, "When was the last time you jumped out of a plane?"

**AN: I know, I know. Yet another talking chapter with no action. I apologize. (There is action in this story, I swear it, just not till near the end). As always I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. Side note: After this run is finished I think I will be putting aside the fan fiction for a time to focus on some original work and possibly getting things published. I don't know if this will be my last fan fiction story but if it is I intend to go out on a fun note. I mentioned it before, but I am working on a companion series for this story that I think you'll all really enjoy (I hope) (think romance and betrayal). I am so eager to start publishing chapters for it but I can't because that would ruin the plot for this one and ugh I am just so impatient and its all my own fault because I am taking forever to upload chapters. So I'll let you go before my impatient side spills the beans. For now, good fortune my virtual friends- George&amp;Eckels **


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